


Pathways

by Hinn_Raven



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dimension Travel, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-05
Updated: 2013-08-03
Packaged: 2019-04-17 12:47:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 26,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14189283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hinn_Raven/pseuds/Hinn_Raven
Summary: Their mentors are out of reach, possibly forever. They’re stranded in a different world, and all they have is each other. But the Team is hardly going to let that stop them. With a little planning and a bit of patience, they will create the Justice League of the new world. Because there is always a need for heroes.





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic was removed from Ao3 a while ago, but I found my old files and I thought I'd put it here again, backdated.

**Location: Undisclosed  
**

**Date: October 30  
**

**Time: 22:31 EST  
**

_“Once again, the young ‘heroes’ interfere with our plans.”_

_“I must admit, I am growing tired of their continuous meddling.”_

_“I for one am beginning to doubt that our original plan to deal with them will succeed.”_

_“How so? Artemis’s insecurities will be simple enough to prey upon, Psimon has informed me that he has sensed an exploitable secret within the Martian girl’s mind, and the Superboy…”_

_“Superboy’s programming was not complete. Nothing is guaranteed.”_

_“Do you have that little faith in the 'Shields’ you have designed.”_

_“Not at all. However, Superboy has proved… unpredictable in the past.”_

_“Agreed. Not to mention, I personally find it worrisome that the plan does not cover Kid Flash, Aqualad, or Robin. The Detective’s protégé in particular could cause problems…”_

_“Still sulking about laser then?”_

_“Meow.”_

_“Oh, fine, I’ll drop it…”_

_“Do you actually believe they pose a_ _**threat** _ _to our goal?”_

_“I do not. At the same time, we believed that they would never be able to interfere in many of our intermediate stages, and yet they have done so quite frequently.”_

_“It could be simple to remedy such a problem.”_

_“The entire Team being murdered could cause a problem.”_

_“Death is too simple, too easy. The Justice League would not rest until they uncovered who was responsible. And it could be possible for them to trace it to us.”_

_“Not if we’re careful.”_

_“But possible, nevertheless. Perhaps, something… else could be arranged?”_

_“Ooh, I’ve got_ _**just** _ _the thing for those brats!”_

* * *

**Location: Happy Harbor  
**

**Date: November 3  
**

**Time: 16:16 EST**

“Watch out!” M'gann shouted, lifting another boulder into the air to block the sonic attack from Shocker.

The sound-manipulator fired again at Robin, still furious that Robin had managed to destroy his machine. (Yes, Batman had told them to observe and report only, except in the case of emergency. However, as Robin had pointed out, a villain managing to block all noise in a twenty-mile radius counted.) Robin somersaulted over the blast, smirking, before throwing smoke pellets at Shocker.

“Superboy, I need to get into the air!” Artemis shouted, drawing an arrow. “I’ll need a clear shot if I’m going to take out that generator he’s wearing.”

Superboy nodded, and cupped his hands. Artemis placed a foot in his hand, and jumped. The arrow hissed through the air, landing in the middle of the problematic device. Bulls-eye. Shocker stumbled backwards, gloved hands going to the arrow, trying to pull it out. He fell over, now feeling the full weight of his bulky suit without the electronics to help compensate for it.

“Good shot,” Robin said, smirking at Artemis, tucking his batarang back into his utility belt. He walked over to Shocker, smirking. He grabbed Shocker’s gloved hands, and started to remove the gloves.

“Thanks,” Artemis said to Robin before turning to Kaldur. “Call the League. Tell them it’s over.”

Kaldur nodded in agreement, and reached down to press the omega symbol on his belt to activate his com link.

“Don’t you  _wish_ ,” a familiar voice cackled.

“Klarion!” Kaldur said, drawing his water-bearers once again.

Klarion grinned, and waved his hand almost lazily. A bright surge of energy soared through the air towards them.

“Hit the deck!” Wally yelled as it soared over their heads.

The explosion threw M'gann out of the air, landing right on top of Conner. Kaldur gave a cry of pain. Robin was sent careening into Artemis. Wally found his face planted firmly in the ground.

Everything went black.

* * *

**Location: Happy Harbor  
**

**Date: November 3  
**

**Time: 16:23 EST**

Batman looked at the crater. The Team had been here just moments ago, alive and well after a simple, routine mission.

His left hand clenched into a fist by his side as he checked the small device in his other hand to see if there was any sign of the tracking device that Robin carried with him at all times. There still wasn’t. Batman restarted the device again. The equipment had to be faulty. There could be no other explanation.

Martian Manhunter stood to one side, eyes closed as he tried to contact the teens telepathically. He opened his eyes, sorrow rumbling in his voice. “Nothing.”

“That can’t be right,” Barry said, looking absolutely panicked. “That  _can’t_  be right! They were just here!”

“That was  _before_  the explosion,” J'ohnn said.

“What caused it?” Batman said, voice calm, although everyone could  _feel_  the pure rage radiating off the man.

“It is magical in origin,” Zatara said, frowning, “But beyond that, I cannot tell.”

“Keep trying,” Batman said flatly.

“But there’s no sign of them,” Ollie said, going into the crater. Something tightened in Batman’s chest, but he hid it well. The man had no right to step in the place where they—he refused to allow himself to complete that thought. “There’s nothing. No weapons, no bodies… nothing. The explosion wouldn’t have demolished everything.”

Black Canary leaned down, and touched the charred ground. “We’ll figure it out,” she whispered, more to herself than anyone. “We’ll find them.”

“ _Yfitnedi eht lacigam ygrene!_ ” Zatara shouted, and the whole area glowed. He turned to Batman, suddenly looking hopeful. “They are alive!”

“Where are they?” Barry demanded, suddenly at the side of the League’s magician.

Zatara looked right at Batman. “Another dimension.”

Relief chorused through the entire League. Superman placed a hand on Batman’s shoulder.

“We’ll find them,” Superman encouraged his old friend. “We have the technology.”

Batman looked directly at Superman, eyes narrowed. “And countless worlds to find them on.”

Superman had nothing to say to that.

* * *

**Location: The Watchtower  
**

**Date: November 10  
**

**Time: 12:38 EST**

“After three hours,” Captain Atom said a week later, looking at Batman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, the Flash, Wonder Woman, Superman, and a royally pissed off Red Arrow, “The device will send another portal into the dimension, and you will be able to return with the Team.”

There were nods all around, and Captain Atom activated the device.

The air crackled around them, and the eight Leaguers and Red Arrow held their breath, unsure of what they would see as they entered the world that their protégés, children, friends, and partners had disappeared into.

Superman looked around, relaxing slightly as he recognized the darkened hallways of the Watchtower. “There’s a League here,” he commented.

“Yeah, but on what side?” Green Arrow commented, hands tight on his longbow.

“Let’s find out,” Red Arrow suggested, stepping forward, intent on investigating.

“Stay back!” the voice of a young girl said. “This is restricted area! Justice League members only!” A silhouette of a tall girl with a pony tail and a compound bow was visible. Green Arrow and Black Canary relaxed slightly. Artemis was alright. “Robin! Superboy! Get in here, we’ve got intruders!”

“Coming!” a voice that Batman didn’t recognize called, and a young boy, but still older than Dick, wearing the Robin suit entered the hallway, batarangs in hand. The boy’s eyes narrowed beneath the lenses of his mask as he took in the silhouetted Leaguers. “Access system, authorization Robin, B-02. Lights on.”

The lights flickered on in the hallway, and the unfamiliar boy stared at the League. “Speedy? What’s going on?”

A closer look revealed that the archer was not Artemis. Her outfit and weapon, while similar to Artemis’s, were red, not green. Her hair was shorter and red. Her cowl was different, with her eyes completely hidden by white lenses. Confusion covered her face as she took in the League. Her eyes landed on Red Arrow, and her grip on her bow tightened, her lips narrowing into a thin line.

A second boy entered the room, this one wearing the S-Shield. However, this boy was clearly not Conner. The boy was older by a year or two, and wore a blue shirt with a black S logo, with dark pants and a bright red cape. The boy blinked, but otherwise didn’t react to the presence of strangers within the Watchtower. “Access the Oracle. Authorization Superboy B-04. DNA scan the intruders.”

A mechanical resounded from all sides of the hallway. “Recognized, Wonder Woman, Justice League. Recognized, Ollie Queen, Justice League Associate. Recognized, Dinah Lance-Queen, Justice League Associate.” Black Canary and Ollie exchanged raised eyebrows at her altered surname. “Recognized, Clark Kent, Justice League. Recognized, Bruce Wayne, Justice League Associate. Recognized Roy Harper, Justice League Associate. Not recognized, three life-forms.”

The three looked at each other. “Come with us,” the one called Speedy said, gesturing with her bow.

“Are you threatening us?” Superman said, eying the girl with distaste. “An arrow won’t hurt me.”

The girl’s lips tightened. “You broke into the Watchtower. That classifies you as a threat, until you are cleared by Senior Justice League members. And since you bring that up…” the girl reached into her quiver, pulling out an odd looking arrow from her quiver. “Kryptonite Arrow. I press  _this_ ,” she fingered what appeared to be a little lever, “And the lead comes off.”

The boy with the S-Shield threw her a look. “You  _had_  to bring out the Kryptonite?”

She flashed an apologetic smile. “Sorry Superboy.”

“I’ll protect you Supey!” a little girl declared, popping up behind the other dimension’s Superboy.

“Kid Flash…” Speedy said, glaring at the younger girl. “You are  _supposed_  to be with Nightfire and Apollo.”

The girl in spandex looked at Speedy with wide eyes. “But I  _am_  with them! They’re right there!” She gestured towards the doorway, where a small red-haired boy, around her own height, holding a bow, and a dark haired girl who was floating in the air, hands glowing with a faint green light were.

“Lovely,” Speedy growled. “Now let’s get moving. Robin, can you contact the League?”

“On it,” the dark-haired boy said, touching his ear for a communicator. “Robin to Justice League. We’ve got a—” he looked at the League with an expression that Batman couldn’t discern. The boy swallowed, and continued. “A Priority Alpha situation.”

The dark haired girl who was floating in the air zoomed up to Robin, eyes wide. “Priority  _Alpha_? You mean—”

“I mean it,” the other Robin said, voice bitter. “Let’s get to the main room. They’re teleporting in soon.”

The League followed the kids, still confused.

* * *

**Location: The Watchtower  
**

**Date: Unknown  
**

**Time: Unknown  
**

“Robin, what’s going on?” a red-haired woman in a wheel chair demanded as they entered the main room of the Watchtower. “And what’s this about sending out a Priority Alpha? This is completely—” she caught sight of the League following the children, and paled. “Oh my God. It’s them, isn’t it?”

“We think so,” Speedy said, keeping her distance from the group, expression carefully neutral. “They match the description, except for presence of their Superman,” she said, throwing a look at the Man of Steel.

Superman flinched under the girl’s glare. The woman groaned. “Brilliant. Brilliant.”

“Where are our kids?” Barry demanded. “And who the hell are you?”

The woman looked at him, eyes tired. “I’m the Oracle. I run the Watchtower, and the World Wide Information Network. And your kids are on their way. They never miss a Priority Alpha.”

“Never,” A boy wearing a green version of Roy’s old outfit (minus the hat)—Apollo, maybe—agreed.

“Incoming teleport,” Oracle suddenly said, propelling her chair forward and pressing buttons. “Clear landing pad, we’ve got incoming molecules.”

A group materialized. Something caught in Bruce’s throat.

There was a Batman, a Flash, and a Superman. Yes, the Batman was shorter, and his outfit was a bit more streamlined and the Superman wore a cape that was shorter, but that was an excusable difference between dimensions.

What wasn’t excusable was that there was the tall woman wearing an outfit similar to Green Arrow’s, with the hood pulled down, revealing a head of blonde hair. Or the Aquaman with dark skin and tattoos on his arms. Or the Martian woman with short red hair.

These were  _their_  children.

The Justice League.


	2. Year 0

**Year 0**

Artemis pushed Robin off her, reaching for her bow as she got to her feet. She scanned the area, looking for Klarion. He wasn’t there.

“He’s gone,” Wally said, getting to his feet. “Where’d he go?”

“He could be anywhere,” Conner growled, helping M'gann to her feet.

“Is anyone injured?” Kaldur asked, looking at everyone.

Artemis wasn’t listening. Something was  _wrong_. Her eyes flickered around the clearing, trying to decipher what. She clutched her bow tightly, knuckles white.

“Artemis?” She jerked as Robin placed a hand on her arm. “What’s wrong?”

“I don't…” She trailed off. How could she explain it? Artemis just  _knew_  something was off here. Something was wrong with this situation, she just couldn’t put her finger on it… suddenly, she figured it out, and her eyes jolted towards the sky, freezing as she confirmed what she’d suspected.

Moments ago, the sun had been low in the sky, not quite setting, but almost there. Now, it was almost directly overhead, messing with the shadows, which would be what Artemis had noticed originally. She might not live in the shadows like Robin or Jade, but she lived with a healthy fear of them, and knew how to observe or use them as she pleased.

“Robin,” she said, looking at him. “Look at the sky.”

It was almost comical, watching her whole team tilt their heads up in sync. Robin reached for his communicator. “How?” Wally muttered.

“Klarion,” M'gann said, looking worried. “He must have sent us back… or forwards through time.”

“Why would he do that?” Wally asked, green eyes incredulous.

“Good question Wally,” Robin said, looking pale. “But wrong one.”

“What’s the right question then?” Wally demanded.

“How  _far_  did we get sent—and in what direction?”

Artemis placed a hand on a nearby tree. “Can’t have been too far either way. The plants all look about the same—none are much bigger or missing.”

“Trees don’t exactly pop up overnight,” Wally pointed out.

“No, but the flowers are all in the same season,” Artemis said. “So we’re probably not too far.”

“Let’s get to a town, find the date, and then contact the League,” M'gann said.

* * *

**Location: Happy Harbor**

**Date: Unknown**

**Time: Unknown**

Happy Harbor looked about the same as it had been the day before. M'gann used a quarter to buy a newspaper, while Conner scouted for civilian clothes for Kaldur, Wally, Artemis and Robin.

“I’d rather wear my uniform,” Artemis said disgustedly, looking at a pair of baggy jeans with butterflies sewn onto them and a pink long sleeved v-neck shirt that Conner had found.

“I’d wear them for you, but I don’t think the shirt would go with my complexion,” Robin sighed, zipping up the hoodie. Conner had managed to scrounge up an outfit that looked ridiculously close to the civvies that he wore around Mount Justice, complete with sunglasses.

Wally was wearing a turtleneck and skinny jeans ensemble that actually looked pretty good on him (not that Artemis would  _ever_ admit such a thing out loud), and Kaldur looked perfectly at home in a high neck sweater and jeans. It was only Artemis who was forced to wear clothes that she normally would never wear.

“It wouldn’t,” Artemis nodded seriously in agreement and tugged on the shirt over her uniform, followed by the jeans. She made a face. “Brilliant.”

“Uh, what about your…” Wally gestured to the high collar of her uniform, which was still visible. Artemis rolled her eyes and held up the black scarf that Conner had found for her. “Ah.”

M'gann entered the bio-ship, still looking Caucasian and dressed as Megan Morse. She looked shaken.

“M'gann?” Conner was by her side in an instant, worried. “M'gann, what's…?”

She held out a newspaper.  _November 10 2005_ , the headline read.

“Six years,” Robin said, frowning. “Brilliant… none of us exist as heroes yet. It’ll be hard to get the League to believe us…”

“That’s not the issue,” M'gann said, voice quiet.

“What is?” Wally asked, eating a granola bar that Conner had scrounged up for him.

“Look,” she said, pointing to the title of the newspaper.

“What’s the matter?” Wally asked, peering. “Don’t like to read  _The Happy Harbor Herald_? Because I can’t blame you if you don’t; that is an awful name for a newspaper…”

Conner looked worried now. “That’s not the name of the paper,” he said.

“Happy Harbor’s doesn’t  _have_  a newspaper!” M'gann said. “Let alone a daily one!”

“Oh, this can’t be good,” Robin muttered, firing up the computer on his glove.

Artemis peered over his shoulder, watching as he pulled up CNN, the New York Times, and the Daily Planet websites. “Right on the dot,” Artemis said, eyes wide as she focused on one particular article.

“That can’t be right,” Robin said, sounding slightly panicked. “It  _can’t_  be!”

“Rob, what is it?” Wally looked concerned for his best friend. “What’s wrong?”

“Timelines,” Robin muttered, hands flying over holographic keys. “Dimensions. This can’t be  _right_!”

“What  _is it_ , Robin?” Kaldur demanded, voice calm. Robin slowly rotated his wrist to show them the holographic screen of his computer, where a slightly modified version of Google was clearly visible.

**_No results for Justice League_ **

**_No results for Superman_ **

**_No results for Batman_ **

“We haven’t travelled through time,” Robin said, slumping. “We’re in another dimension. One where we don’t have any heroes to help us.”

The whole group sat in shocked silence.

They were alone.

* * *

**Location: Gotham City**

**Date: November 11, 2005**

**Time: 13:42 EST**

The six teens sat in the small, abandoned warehouse they had found within Gotham City, and stared in front of them, where they had piled all of their tools for surviving within this new reality they had found themselves in.

Robin’s entire arsenal, including a handful of small, but valuable pieces of jewelry that could easily be pawned, Artemis’s quiver full of arrows, and her wallet, which contained her student ID and twenty dollars in cash that wouldn’t work in this reality, because the dates were from the future, and a small stash of food that Wally had located.

They needed a plan.

“They’ll find us, won’t they?” M'gann said, leaning into Superboy’s arm, looking a few years older at Robin’s suggestion. They needed an adult with them, or they risked attracting too much attention. And at the moment, attention was the last thing that they needed.

“Of course they will,” Robin said, smiling at her comfortingly. “But we don’t know how long it’ll take them to make contact. So we’ll need to start at least the basics of a life here.”

Artemis nodded. “It’ll be easy enough. Robin’s got the tools to forge the documents we’ll need, and he can fake a paper trail easily enough.”

“Add some back-story, a little bit of hacking, a tiny bit of shape-shifting magic, and  _boom_ , this team has always lived in this dimension!” Wally said jovially.

M'gann smiled back.

“What if they don’t find us for years?” Conner said quietly, holding M'gann close. “I mean, you said there were an unknown number of alternate universes…”

“Actually, an unknow _able_  number—” Wally began, before catching Kaldur’s glare. “Shutting up now.”

Kaldur placed a hand on Conner’s shoulder. “If that is what happens, we will handle it.”

“And besides,” Robin said, smirking. “We’ll be able to use tech to find our way back home! We know where  _we’re_  from, so it’ll be a piece of cake, once we’ve got the tech.”

“And how long will that take?”

Wally and Robin exchanged glances. “Don’t know for sure,” Wally admitted.

“We’ll do the math,” Robin said with a shrug, firing up his computer once again.

* * *

**Location: Gotham City**

**Date: November 13 2005**

**Time: 19:23 EST**

“We can’t afford secrets,” Aqualad said quietly, a few weeks later, as he looked around the room.

“What do you mean?” M'gann asked, looking worried.

Artemis bit her lip, clearly conflicted.

“If Wally and Robin have done their calculations correctly—”

“There’s still a thirteen percent chance of error,” Wally protested, looking at Kaldur. “We can’t know for sure—”

“Nevertheless,” Kaldur said firmly. “You are estimating  _ten years_  before we will have access to the technology that will allow us to return home, am I correct?”

“That’s right,” Robin said. “But for all we know, the League could find us any day now.”

“They could,” Aqualad agreed, stance firm. “However, that would indicate that they know where to  _look_  for us. As you pointed out, Robin, they will be searching for us through countless dimensions. It could take them years to discover us in this one.”

“And  _that’s_  working under the idea that time flows the same in the two dimensions,” Wally said quietly. “For all we know, we could have been missing for  _years_  already back home.”

“Or it could be the other way,” Artemis offered. “We could spend a few years here, but it’ll only have been a few seconds.”

“Like Narnia?” Wally shot at her.

“Exactly. Now all we have to do is beat the White Witch,” Artemis said, grinning. “I’m obviously Susan—”

“Regardless,” Aqualad said, carefully steering the conversation back to the point. “We have no idea how long we shall be here.” He looked around the Team, making eye contact with each of them. “I know we all have secrets, and our own reasons for keeping them. But here and now, we need to stand united. We will be hiding everything from the rest of the world; we cannot afford to hide anything from each other.”

Artemis swallowed as she looked around the group. Her friends, her teammates, her  _family_. She clenched her fists. What would they think of her, if they knew the truth about her, about her family? She bit her lip, knowing she should speak up. But how could she begin?

Robin reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing. “It’s okay Artemis,” he said softly. “You don’t have to start.” He reached up and pulled off his sunglasses slowly. “Hello everyone!” He grinned at them. “My name is Dick Grayson.”

Artemis froze, looking at him. Slowly, deliberately, she raised her hand into the air, and delivered a smack onto the back of the Boy Wonder’s head. “You  _knew_.” She glared at the little troll.

“Yep!” He looked unrepentant, and smirked at her. Artemis’s eyes narrowed, before allowing a small smile to creep onto her face.

“What did he know?” Wally asked, looking between Artemis and Dick.

“I live in Gotham City,” Artemis said after a long pause.

“You do?” M'gann said, looking confused. “But I thought you lived in Star City like your uncle—”

“He’s not my uncle,” Artemis said, cutting her off. She took a deep breath, placing her hands on her knees. “He suggested we say that after I asked…” she paused, before plunging forward. “After I asked that you guys wouldn’t be told about my family. He thought it would work as an acceptable cover story.” She looked up, and noticed that Kaldur didn’t look surprised. She wondered if she had Red Arrow to thank for that, or Batman.

“Why would you want your family to be a secret?” Conner asked, looking at her.

“Because my dad is— _was_ , Sportsmaster.” Artemis swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry as paper before plunging forward again. “My mom was a criminal known as Huntress. And my sister—my sister’s Cheshire.”

Kaldur’s eyebrows shot up, but Robin looked unsurprised. She didn’t look at Wally. She didn’t want to see.

“Is that what Sportsmaster meant by having a mole on the Team?” Kaldur asked softly.

“No!” Artemis snarled, but Dick saw how she went tense. This was exactly what she’d been afraid of. Accusations, fear, distrust. She was afraid of no longer being Artemis the hero, their teammate, their  _friend_ , but Artemis, the daughter of criminals. All of Artemis’s worst fears were coming to life now, just as she had spilled her secrets. “I haven’t seen him since the night I became a hero, when my mom kicked him to the curb! I haven’t had  _anything_  to do with him since.” Her hands were tightening, knuckles white.

Dick reached out and grabbed her hands again. “Hey, it’s okay,” he told her softly. “Remember, you’re not with your family anymore. You’re one of us.”

“I am sorry if I sounded as if I was accusing you,” Kaldur said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I know you would not betray us. I was simply inquiring if that was what he had meant us to believe. If he was attempting to cast suspicion on you so that we would cast you out.”

Artemis closed her eyes, but not before Dick noted that her eyes were bright with tears. “I don’t know,” she said, voice tight. “Like I said, I haven’t talked to him since July. Not since he went off to Santa Prisca.”

Dick squeezed her hand. “Thanks for trusting us,” he said quietly. Wally shot him a dark look. Dick raised an eyebrow in return.

Artemis just nodded, not opening her eyes. But for a split second, she squeezed back.

“We’re dating,” Conner offered, arm still around M'gann’s shoulder.

Artemis and Robin started laughing like a couple of maniacs, and Kaldur smiled. Wally rolled his eyes, because even  _he_  had noticed that, and… well, it had taken a while. But he  _had_  caught on eventually!

Admittedly, it had taken quite a few public cuddles for him to catch on, but he  _had_ , that’s what mattered.

“Okay, so Dick, Artemis and Conner did their spilling,” Wally said, sounding a bit petulant, not happy that his best friend was holding hands with the girl who he most certainly did  _not_  like. “Who’s next?”

“Me,” M'gann said quietly.

“I swear, I was kidding,” Wally said, raising his hands into the air.

* * *

**Location: Gotham City**

**Date: November 13 2005**

**Time: 22:37 EST**

The Team huddled around the computer, watching as Robin flipped through the profiles of their mentors, friends, and family in this dimension.

Oliver Queen ran Queen Industries, was a prosperous CEO, adopted father of Roy Harper, was married to Dinah Lance, and was most certainly not Green Arrow. There  _was_  no Green Arrow.

There was no Justice League.

Lawrence ‘Crusher’ Crock was in prison for the attempted murder of Bruce Wayne. He wouldn’t get out for twenty years at least. Paula Crock had died in a car accident three months prior to his arrest.

The police suspected foul play, but there wasn’t any proof. The couple only had one daughter, Jade, who was going to college in Star City, and apparently dating Roy Harper. But Artemis Crock didn’t exist.

Barry Allen was a police scientist, and was married to Iris West. They had two children named Don and Dawn, who were in college. Mary and Rudy West were married, but had no children.

The Flash had never been seen.

There had been no contact with Atlantis, but Robin was sure that it existed. Kaldur resolved to go and search for it once they had finished hollowing out Mount Justice. That was a difficult task, since they lacked Superman’s heat-vision, but they were managing.

Mars, on the other hand, if life had ever existed on it, was long dead. M'gann mourned her planet and her family.

The Kents still lived on their farm in Smallville, but they didn’t have a son. And as Robin pointed out, it would be nearly impossible to determine Krypton’s state of being, or at least not with the technology that they had available to them at the moment.

There  _had_  been an incident in Crime Alley all those years ago, but Bruce Wayne and his parents had been saved at the last minute by a rookie cop who had happened to be in the area at the time, named Jim Gordon, who was now the Police Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department. Batman had never been born. Instead, the entire Wayne family had turned their attentions and fortune to cleaning up Gotham.

But it wasn’t going very well. Now Bruce Wayne was head of Wayne Enterprises, but his clean-up efforts weren’t getting anywhere.

Richard Grayson was four years old and still flying with his parents. Dick looked at the poster for the Flying Graysons, and ignored the strange feeling in his chest.

* * *

**Location: Gotham City**

**Date: December 3 2005**

**Time: 8:54 EST**

They were currently living in an abandoned warehouse in Gotham City, as the group of teens forged paperwork and credit histories and identities. So far, they’d figured out that Robin was to be Richard Grayson, a computer prodigy who lived with his mother, Mary Grayson, who would be played by M'gann. Dick would be using his share of the money that they had received from pawning the jewelry to rent a small apartment, and had successfully managed to enroll himself in Gotham Academy under a full scholarship.

“I  _don’t_  want to know how you managed that,” Artemis said.

Artemis had turned down Dick’s offer to join him at Gotham Academy. Instead, she opted to go to Gotham North and live alone in a small apartment in the bad side of town. Conner agreed to initially pose as a father-type figure (heavy makeup and a beard helped with that) to help her move in, and then promptly disappear. The cover story would be that her dad was off doing small time crime and possibly drugs. At Gotham North, she would rarely need a parent’s signature for anything, and if she did need it, she would fall back on her old habit from Middle School; forging signatures.

Conner Kent and his adoptive 'mother’, Lana Kent, rented a nice apartment in Metropolis and enrolled in a local high school. With some help from Dick, he managed to secure a before-school job delivering  _The_   _Daily Planet_  around town, which would help the Team continue to make ends meet.

Wally West and his Aunt Megan took out a mortgage and bought a house. (“ _Someone_  needs to own a place big enough for all of us to hang out, and it might as well be you,” Dick had informed Wally. “Have you  _seen_  house pricing in Metropolis or Gotham? And that’s not getting into insurance…”) Wally got a job delivering pizzas off his bike, and Megan West, (who was around much more often than Dick Grayson’s flighty, troubled mother, or Conner Kent’s overworked, job hunting one) got herself a secretary position at the Police Department.

After much discussion among the group, they decided to postpone making M'gann her own identity until Wally was a legal adult. It would simplify things, and help throw their enemies (when they made them) off of their trail.

“Okay, so how are we going to do this?” Wally asked the others as he chowed down on his third pizza. “I mean, hollowing Mount Justice… it took Superman and the Lanterns to do that, and we don’t have heat vision  _or_  Green Lantern rings at our disposal.”

“Well then,” Dick said, pulling up his holographic computer. “We’ll have to work something else out.”

“I’m worried,” Artemis said quickly. “Is anyone else worried?”

“Calm down,” Dick said with a laugh. “I was just thinking that we could use telekinesis. Conner’s also got super-strength, which should help…”

“You know, I bet I could design a laser-thing,” Wally said, looking thoughtful. “If Rob helped me…”

“My magic will probably be of some use,” Kaldur offered, smiling.

“This will be  _so_  awesome!” Dick predicted, grinning.


	3. WALLY WEST #1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First Wally-Centric Chapter! :)

**Location: Keystone**  
  
 **Date: January 14 2005**  
  
 **Time: 7:45 CST**  
  
 **Year 1—Wally**  
  
Wally looked around. Keystone High School was almost exactly the same as he remembered it. Admittedly, things looked a bit newer, a bit cleaner, but still. The same hallways, same lockers he used to get shoved into, same terrifying, yet sweet little old lady behind the front desk (minus a few wrinkles), and judging from the smell from the cafeteria, same moderately toxic food.  
  
He stood in the entrance hall, looking at the piece of paper that Lori the Terrifying Secretary of DOOM had given him with his locker number and combination on it.  
  
“Hello,” a dark haired boy said, walking up to him, eyes focused on five or six note cards in his hand. “My name is James Jesse. I will be your advisor, counselor and buddy for your first day. Welcome to Keystone High School, home of the Spartans five-time champion football team, insert name here!”  
  
“Ignore him,” a blonde boy said, appearing at James Jesse’s elbow. “He wrote those five minutes ago, when he learned I was your ‘peer advisor’. I’m pretty sure you ride a unicycle while juggling eggs at one point in there. I’m Hartley. You’ve just met James. He’s a joker. Follow me if you want to avoid one-wheeled vehicles and rotten chicken babies.”  
  
He said this all in a deadpan that would make Kaldur proud, and Wally instantly decided that he liked this guy. And James too—the guy seemed like he crazy, but awesome. Kinda like Rob…  
“Nice to meet you,” Wally said. “I’m Wally West.”  
  
“Woo!” James cheered, knocking Hartley out of the way, grabbing Wally’s hand, and pumping it up and down with great enthusiasm. “Welcome to the Alliteration Alliance, my friend! Madison Joel transferred to Central East over the break, so you’re locker is right next to mine!” He then grabbed the hand he had just been shaking and proceeded to use it to drag Wally along for the ride.  
  
“I suppose I should supervise…” Hartley said dryly, following. “You know your combo?”  
“On the paper,” Wally managed, trying to keep up with James without using superspeed. It was surprisingly hard.  
  
They stopped at locker 882, and Wally entered the combination. (It was the exact same locker and combination that he had possessed first semester back home, which seriously raised a few questions about security there…) He dumped a few notebooks and a binder in there, just to make it feel less empty.  
  
“Five… four… three… two…” James said, eying his watch. Wally turned to his hopeful-friend, suddenly worried.  
  
“What’s—” but before he could finish that sentence, Hartley plowed over him.  
  
“What did you do?” Hartley demanded, eyes wide. “James, what did—” There was a loud series of pops that echoed down the hallway that cut off Hartley’s inquiries. Hartley looked furious. “JAMES!”  
  
“Ah, don’t get your pants all in one basket,” James said airily, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Wally. “I only left a few surprises in some people’s lockers.”  
  
“Whose lockers and what surprises?” Hartley looked murderous.  
  
James’s smile vanished. “Whose do you think, Hartley?”  
  
“It’s the first day of school, James!”  
  
“They hurt you!”  
  
“James, that was last semester—”  
  
“I don’t care, they’re bullies, and they hurt you, and I hate bullies.” James crossed his arms, something wild and slightly scary flaring in his eyes. “It’s just a bit of paint, anyway. It’ll wash off.”  
  
“JESSE!”  
  
“Admittedly, this paint is pink and slightly sparkly,” James said, stepping into Wally’s locker. If Wally hadn’t hung out with Rob and seen even weirder contortionist things, he might have been worried.  
  
“Right in the masculinity,” Wally observed. “Nice.”  
  
“Thank you, Wally. Now if you excuse me, I’m going to cower in your locker for my own personal safety.” James slammed the door shut, and just in time. Three bulky looking boys stomped over to Wally and Hartley, drenched from head to toe in sparkly pink paint. The biggest of them grabbed Hartley by his expensive-looking jacket and shoved him up against the lockers. Wally winced.  
  
“Where is he?” The boy demanded, leaning close to Hartley. Hartley’s expression indicated bad breath. Poor guy. Wally had been captured by the Penguin once, back home. That guy had the worst breath in the history of forever. Sardines and cigarettes and escargot were not a good combination.  
  
“Hello Michael. Nice to see you. Who are you looking for, and why are you pink?”  
  
“You know why,” the big burly brute snarled. “And where’s Jesse?”  
  
“Haven’t seen him yet,” Hartley said, voice devoid of intonation or emotion. “The first bell hasn’t rung yet, after all.”  
  
“I don’t think you heard me right,” Michael sneered, leaning even further into Hartley’s personal space, which was incredibly awkward. Why did the badguys—or bullies in this case—think that getting all into someone’s face made them seem macho and intimidating? Really, all it did was make a case that their violent tempers and habits of lashing out were rooted in their problems with their own sexuality. “Where’s youw fwiend, Hawtley?” Michael said, speaking deliberately slow and loud, as if talking to a toddler.  
  
Twin pink spots appeared on Hartley’s face, and something briefly flashed across the boy’s features, which Wally probably wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for superspeed. It was that look of someone who you really shouldn’t push too far; and the look of someone who was about to be pushed. (He knew that look. He’d seen it on Dick. And Artemis. And Conner. And Kaldur. And Aunt Iris. And Joan.) “I heard you perfectly,” Hartley said, voice still flat. “And I said I don’t know.”  
  
Wally really didn’t like the look on Michael’s face. With mooks and bullies alike, it usually meant someone (usually someone who Wally liked) was about to get hurt. “Hey, maybe I’ve seen him. What’s he look like?” Hartley shot him a look as the Three Generic Bullies turned towards Wally.  
  
Michael gave a short description of James. “You seen him?”  
  
If Wally was Artemis, he would probably do something badass, like kick him in the balls. If he was Conner, he would give the guy the intimidation stare. If he was Kaldur, he would do something passive aggressive and slightly scary. Wally, however, was not an assassin trained girl who could get away with it, a clone of Superman, nor an Atlantian soldier.  
  
That left Dick and M’gann to use as role models. A plan instantly emerged in Wally’s mind.  
  
“I think so…” Wally said, frowning as though he was trying to remember. “A guy looking like that dashed past here soon after that weird noise. He was laughing like crazy and dodged in there.” He nodded at the nearby girls’ bathroom, which, judging from what he had seen of James’ character, was perfectly plausible.  
  
As expected, the three boys froze up. Victory! Hartley shot Wally a thin smile over their shoulder, one that seemed to express the sentiment ‘thanks for trying, but they won’t buy that.’  
  
Clearly, Hartley had never taken lying lessons from the Boy Wonder.  
  
The door swung open, and Wally cursed internally. So much for that plan.  
  
And then he saw who walked out, and all such pessimistic thoughts fled his mind immediately.  
  
She had long dark hair and tanned skin. She was of Asian descent judging from her features, with a cheerful smile. She wore a red v-neck shirt, tight fitting dark jeans, and barely any makeup as far as Wally could tell. A messenger bag was tossed over one shoulder, and she looked positively radiant.  
  
Wally knew he was staring, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.  
  
“Hey!” Michael said. “Linda, babe! Did Jesse run in there?”  
  
Linda’s eyes flashed in a way that reminded Wally of Artemis (it was Artemis’s patented I’m going to kick your ass to next Thursday, and I won’t even need my bow look). Wally’s heart sped up a little bit. She’s probably going to say no, and I’m going to get my ass kicked, he thought regretfully. Not the best way to make a good impression on a girl like her, Wally was willing to bet.  
  
“Hey Michael!” Her voice wasn’t like Wally had imagined it; peppy and high and sugary-sweet, not matching the ferocious look in her eyes. “Yeah, he’s in there.”  
  
Hartley silently pumped a fist into the air.  
  
“He’s in the middle stall. Will you be a darling and get him out?” Linda stuck out her bottom lip, looking for all the world nothing more than a shallow, insipid girl asking her big, strong beau to fix a problem for her.  
  
Michael puffed up. “Sure thing babe.” He charged right in, the two others right behind him.  
  
“They… they fell for that.” Wally was amazed.  
  
Linda laughed. “Where’s James?” Her voice was deeper and softer and less artificial now.  
  
Wally reached behind him and spun the combo into his locker, pulling it open.  
  
“Thanks for the save,” Wally told her, trying not to stare like a creepy person. “I’m Wally. I’m new.”  
  
“Linda Park,” she said, shaking his hand quickly. “Now come on, we’ve gotta go!”  
  
The four of them dashed down the hallway, just in time to hear a high pitched shriek fill the hallway.  
  
It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

* * *

Class was surprisingly similar in this dimension. The teacher droned on about homework expectations for this semester, the whole class had a rather glazed look to them, and Wally was sitting next to a pretty girl who probably would never give him the time of day.  
  
Linda was doodling on the back cover of a notebook with a Sharpie pen and seemed rather ignorant of Wally’s presence. Wally sighed, letting his arms fall to the desk.   
  
First day of school still sucks, Wally thought, stifling a yawn. Probably should let the others know.   
  
Something slipped onto his desk–a small, folded piece of recycled notebook paper. Wally unfolded it with great care, keeping an eye on the teacher as he did so.   
  
 _James, Hartley and I are going to Harry’s after school today,_ Linda’s handwriting was neat and tiny cursive. _Join us?_  
  
 _Where’s Harry’s?_ He replied, slipping it back. Linda’s mouth quirked upwards in a smile. 

_Meet us at the flagpole at three. James is driving._

* * *

Linda grinned at him, looking absolutely gorgeous in an elegant navy peacoat. “You came!”  
  
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Wally told her, smiling.   
  
“Good to know!” Hartley said, cheeks already red from the cold. “James’s on his way!”  
  
“What does he drive?” Wally asked, scanning the parking lot.   
  
Hartley and Linda exchanged a look behind Wally’s back.  
  
“Let’s just say…” Linda began.  
  
“You’ll know it when you see it,” Hartley finished.   
  
Just then, Wally’s attention was drawn to a large, dented Ford that had been painted bright orange. The window rolled down, revealing James Jesse’s grinning face. “Get in!” He cheered.   
  
Hartley grabbed shotgun, leaving Wally in the back with Linda.   
  
The interior of the car was in better condition than the exterior. The seats were tan faux leather, the radio seemed to be in surprisingly good condition, and everything was scented faintly of bubble gum.   
  
“Ever been to Harry’s, Wally?” Linda asked, fiddling with her cyan scarf.   
  
“Nope!” Wally said cheerfully. “I’m new to the Twin Cities.”  
  
“Where you from?” Hartley asked, fiddling with the radio.   
  
“Nebraska,” Wally said. “Small town.”  
  
“Why’d you leave?” Linda asked.   
  
Wally looked away.   
  
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said quietly.   
  
Linda grabbed his hand. “I’m sorry,” she said, squeezing.  
  
Wally felt himself flush. “It’s no big deal,” he muttered.  
  
–  
  
Harry’s turned out to be a diner/bar with linoleum floors and bad lighting. It was almost empty, but the four of them crowded into a too-small booth together. A large, gruff woman walked up to them, wearing an ugly blue uniform and a white apron. “What will it be, kids?” She asked, producing a notepad from her apron.   
  
“Chocolate milk,” James chirped, pulling out a yoyo from the depths of his green coat. He paused thinking. “And a BLT.”  
  
“Strawberry shake and fries,” Hartley said. “Thanks Lucy.”   
  
Lucy smiled at Hartley fondly. “Sure thing. Let me guess.” She turned to Linda. “Coffee, black, three sugars, and a slice of pie?”  
  
“Got it in one,” Linda grinned. “What pie do you have today?’  
  
“French silk, cherry, rhubarb, apple cinnamon, apple nutmeg, and banana cream,” Lucy rattled off, not even breathing.  
  
“Slice of cherry please,” Linda said She turned to Wally. “Order whatever you like; Hartley’s paying.”   
  
“What do you recommend?” Wally asked, meeting Linda’s look. They gazed into each other’s eyes for a long while.   
  
Something hit Wally’s face, pulling him out of the moment. “Hot chocolate, extra whip, and apple nutmeg pie for the newbie,” James told Lucy, lowering the straw the was holding (the cover being what had hit Wally’s face.)  
  
“Got it,” she said, scribbling on her pad. “Be back with the drinks soon.” She walked away.  
  
“You guys come here often?” Wally asked, looking at the three.  
  
“Every Monday and Thursday,” Hartley said, carefully moving the straw dispenser away from James. “There’s band on Wednesday and Friday, robotics club on Tuesday, and newspaper on Friday.”   
  
“Robotics club?’ Wally asked James.   
  
“I like making things,” James said cheerfully, swapping the caps on the salt and pepper shakers.   
  
Linda muttered something that sounded like “More like making them explode,” and pulled out her eco-friendly notebook and a fancy pen.   
  
“What about you?” Hartley asked. “What did you do in Nebraska?”  
  
“I did Chemistry club,” Wally said. “Robotics club sounds cool though.”  
  
“You can do both,” James said, reaching across Hartley to try to reach the straw dispenser. “I do!”  
  
“He does,” Hartley sighed, moving it out of James’ reach. “He’s such a geek.”  
  
“And proud of it!” James said, struggling. “And then Hartley here’s our musician!”  
  
“What do you play?” Wally asked.   
  
“Flute,” Hartley said, glaring at James.   
  
“And piano,” Linda said, writing in her notebook. “And the drums, and the saxophone, and the cornet and the french horn and the piccolo–”  
  
“Flute is my main one though,” Hartley said, coloring. “I’m not very good–”  
  
James burst out laughing, just in time for Lucy to appear with the drinks.   
  
Wally accepted the maroon ceramic mug, which was completely covered in whipped cream and chocolate syrup. “Food will be ready soon kids,” Lucy told them.   
  
“Thanks Lucy,” Hartley said, pushing his straw into the thick pink shake.  
  
Turned out that pie at Harry’s was awesome. Wally ate three whole slices, listening to Hartley and Linda marvel at his ability to eat the whole time.   
  
“Do you even stop to breathe?” Linda asked, eyes wide.   
  
“Shometimes,” he said with his mouth full of delicious appley goodness.   
  
“Ewwwww,” Hartley muttered, wrinkling his nose.  
  
“Wuss,” James said, fascinated. The prankster was clearly very curious about Wally’s metabolism.   
  
Wally finally came up for air when his phone went off.   
  
–Meeting at your place tonight? -Dick–  
  
–Talk to you then -Wally– He texted back quickly. He sighed, and stood up. “I have to go. My Aunt Megan’s expecting me.”  
  
“See you Wally!” Hartley said, smiling.  
  
“See ya tomorrow man!” James said. “Remember to avoid Michael!”  
  
“Will do,” Wally said, wincing. “See you guys. See you Linda.”  
  
“Goodbye Wally,” Linda said, smiling at him.


	4. DICK GRAYSON #1

**Location: Gotham City**

**Date: January 1 2005**

**Time: 23:12 EST**

Dick perched on the branch of a large oak tree just outside of Gotham City. He arched his back slightly, elevating his view by a few centimeters in order to be able to see properly through the window without being spotted by the inhabitants within.

The scene spread out before him was warm and cozy. Doctor Thomas Wayne, a thinner, older version of Bruce with salt-and-pepper hair and a face covered in laugh lines sat on the couch, a cup of tea sitting by his hand. Martha was reading from a book, her hair grey as steel and elegant in its bun. Alfred stood to the side, smiling slightly, the same as ever, impeccable in his suit, and mustache.  Bruce was doing paperwork, a steaming mug of coffee in front of him. Alfred’s cinnamon cookies (a staple of autumn months in Wayne Manor) were scattered on plates around the room, as were bowls of apples and wreaths of leaves. Alfred adored the fall, and it showed in how the Manor was decorated.

Dick leaned against the rough trunk of the tree and brought his knees close to his chest. He hooked his chin on them and continued watching the bizarre scene from his worsened angle.

“Bruce,” Martha called, looking up from her book. Her voice sounded like it did in the few home-videos that had survived the years back home. “Is Selina coming over for dinner tomorrow?”

“Yes Mom,” Bruce was smiling. He looked so  _young_. Dick felt a sudden stab of longing that was nauseating, nearly making him lose his balance on the tree as he tried to block the memories of basketball games and late night patrols and  _belonging_. “She’s excited to get to meet you.”

“It’ll be so nice to finally meet her,” Doctor Thomas said, sipping his tea and smiling.

Bruce laughed, easy and carefree. Dick felt he’d been punched in the stomach. Repeatedly. By Conner.

This wasn’t his home. This wasn’t his world. The scene in front of him was everything that Bruce ever wanted, but it was not for  _him_. There was no room for Dick Grayson in this Bruce Wayne’s life.

Dick had known that. The whole  _team_  knew that, about their families in this world. The roles were different here, he knew that.

It didn’t help.

A hand appeared on his shoulder. Artemis, wearing a black hoodie and jeans, was perched on the branch next to him. Her gaze was kind. “Come on Dick,” she said quietly. She barely spared a glance for the scene within the Manor. “Let’s go.”

The two of them slipped off the grounds, avoiding motion detectors and security cameras with ease. (Wayne Manor might have the best security system that a family of billionaires could buy [which was  _very_  impressive, if that wasn’t obvious], but it was no match for a pair of stealthy badass normals.)

Artemis had stashed her motorcycle nearby. It was black and sleek, with two helmets sitting on the seat; one green and one black.

“My place or yours?” Artemis asked, tossing Dick the black helmet. He caught it with his left hand and slipped it over his head. He made a mental note to start upgrading the helmets soon. They’d need some serious tech in them when they started fighting crime.

“Mine,” Dick said, wrinkling his nose dramatically. “Yours has roaches.” (Artemis had eloquently complained about them in a very long series of text messages Tuesday night.)

“Not any more,” Artemis sang, her smile slightly vicious. Dick was suddenly very relieved that he was not one of the unfortunate insects that had been living in Artemis’s apartment.

Artemis zoomed through the streets of Gotham like a madwoman, weaving through traffic without regards for legal speed limits. If they were in any other city, Dick would have been worried about being pulled over by the police for speeding. However, this was Gotham. The cops had bigger worries.

Dick’s apartment was small and sparsely furnished. There was a microwave, a small stove, a bed, a couch that Conner and M'gann had scavenged from the dump, fridge and freezer, and a surprisingly high-end laptop. Artemis made a beeline for the freezer.

“Rocky Road,” Artemis said approvingly as she opened the door. “Good choice. Queue up a movie. We’re having a night in.”

“What movie?” Dick asked, typing on his laptop. Blueprints and schematics appeared and vanished as a long list of movie files popped up on the screen.

“Pick a Disney movie.  _Any_  Disney movie,” Artemis declared.

“Hercules it is,” Dick said, selecting a file at random.

The two of them sat down on the couch, sharing a tub of ice cream as the familiar castle appeared on the screen.

“Artemis?” Dick asked after a moment.

“Yeah?” Artemis said around the spoon in her mouth.

“Thanks.”

She reached over and ruffled his hair. “Anytime.”

* * *

 

**Location: Gotham City**

**Date: January 21 2005**

**Time: 7:58 EST**

Gotham Academy was the same in this world, to the very last detail. It was slightly unnerving, walking through the hallways without people looking at him in familiarity. He was a stranger again, which was an odd feeling. Dick adjusted his tie and fixed his most charming smile on his face. He knew how he needed to act for this school, and he intended to play the part.

“Dick Grayson?”

 _No way._  He turned around, flashing his widest smile. “Who wants to know?”

Barbara Gordon, neat and pretty in her Academy uniform, her hair long and glossy and  _wow_  he had really missed her, smiled politely at him. “I’m Barbara Gordon. I’m supposed to show you around.”

“Assigned, or volunteer?” Dick asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Assigned,” she admitted, a slight twist in her mouth indicating a combination of irritation and amusement.

“Sorry about that then. Nice to meet you Barbara.”

Her smile was a little more genuine this time, and the sight of it was absolutely wonderful. “Well, it probably won’t be  _too_ much trouble. Do you have your schedule?”

“Yep!” Dick said, flourishing the piece of yellow paper that he had received in the mail a few days previously. She took it from him with a wry smile. “Honors English 9, Pre-Calc, Honors Biology, Chinese III, Honors World History, Computer Science and… metalworking?” Babs read, eyebrows climbing up her face. “Quite a schedule there, Grayson. Did you test in?”

“For  _everything_ but computers and metal,” he griped. “The tests were  _hard_.

"Poor Grayson,” she smirked. “I’m sure you managed. I’ve got pretty much the same schedule, so why don’t I show you around?”

Dick beamed and walked alongside her, trying to keep himself from skipping. She was just like  _his_  Barbara, right down to the way she walked. A rush of affection and nostalgia overtook him. Time to turn on the patented Grayson charm.

“So… what extracurriculars do you guys have here?”

She smiled at him, real and wide and absolutely beautiful, and Dick mentally punched the air. He was already working his magic. “Well, there’s the sports teams, then there’s the matheletes…”

Dick followed her into Gotham Academy, not realizing that he was grinning like an idiot the whole time.

* * *

 

Bette Kane sat with them at lunch, which kind of broke his mind for approximately 3.14 seconds. She then grinned at him, completely shattering his world view for all eternity. “Hey Babs, you didn’t introduce me to your new friend!” She said as a way to introduce herself. She plopped herself down across from them, brandishing a lunchbox and a messenger bag as if they were weapons. .

Babs sighed. “Dick, this is Bette Kane–yes, one of  _the_  Kanes. She’s my friend and slightly insane. Just smile and nod. Bette, this is Dick. He’s new and brainy and a freshmen.” She said the three adjectives in rapid sequence, as if hoping that the combination would scare Bette away.

Bette shrugged and grinned at Babs. “I hang out with you, don’t I?” Babs made a face in response.

Dick laughed. “Sophmore?”

“Yep!” Bette flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder. She pulled out an apple from her lunchbox and took a bite out of it with a flourish, which probably should be impossible, but she managed it.

“So where you from, newbie?” Bette asked, twisting the stem of her apple in between dramatic bites.

“Bludhaven,” Dick said. “I was home-schooled.”

“Why’d you come here then?”

Dick froze. Babs had been the one to ask that question. “My dad,” he said after a moment. “He… left.” It felt awful to say that. He sent a mental apology to Bruce,  _his_  Bruce.

Babs placed a hand on his shoulder, looking guilty. “Dick… I’m sorry…”

Dick flashed his best  _I’m Dick Grayson, I’m fine, really, now I’m about to prove how charming I can be so you forget all about what you just saw_  smile at her. “It’s fine,” he told her. “So, you on the gymnastics team too, Bette?”

Bette beamed, clearly grateful for the change in subject. “Yep! And the tennis team. And the dance team. And I’m involved in martial arts!”

“Which ones?” Dick asked, a bit impressed by this slightly hyperactive version of Bette Kane.

“Judo, taekwondo, and I just started karate,” Bette said. “Not as many as Babs, but I’m still  _pretty_  good.” She dragged out the ‘pretty’ much longer than necessary, her smile slightly cocky.

“You fight too?” Dick asked, turning to Babs.

She rolled her eyes. “Judo, mantis kung-fu, escrima, taekwondo, and capoeta.”

Dick’s eyebrows shot up on their own free will. “Impressive.”

She smiled, fingering one strand of wavy red hair. “My dad’s a cop. He believes in me being able to defend myself.”

“That’s cool,” Dick said. “I know a bit of escrima myself.”

“Awesome!” Bette said, grinning so widely that Dick was pretty sure it was about to run off and get a life of its own. “Now you just need to join the gymnastics team!” She looked at him critically. “You certainly  _look_  flexible enough.”

Dick grinned at her. “Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of the Matheletes.”

“You corrupted him already,” Bette said accusingly to Babs.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Babs said, smiling.

Dick hid his smile in his sandwich.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.


	5. ARTEMIS CROCK #1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we celebrate Artemis’s turn at taking over the story!

**Location: Gotham City**

**Date: January 11 2005**

**Time: 07:45 EST**

Artemis Lian Crock, aged fifteen, was seventy-eight percent sure that the universe hated her.

She missed her mom like crazy. One might think that, since her mom had been absent from her life as long as she had been, and living her whole life with a mostly absent father who was more interested in her potential as a mercenary than as a child, Artemis would adjust rather quickly to being in an alternate dimension with only her teammates as back up.

But it felt so unfair. She’d only just gotten her mother back. She’d only just met Ollie and Dinah and even Roy, asshole though he may be, and started to make a family from all of it. She’d only just found her path, found her calling, figured out what she could do with herself to fight all the bad that was out there. And now she had to put that on hold, while they remade their lives and set up systems and backups and generally did the work of the previous generation, but with the added burden of knowing some potential problems.

So she was waiting again, allowing the world to control her life. It sickened her to her stomach, that she had to sit back again.

Her life was a bus stop once again.

She realized that she had formed fists while she brooded, and unclenched them gently. She still had the Team, she reminded herself. She still had M'gann and Dick and Conner and Kaldur and even Wally, even if only Dick was in the city. But they had the Bioship and (hopefully) the Zeta-Beams would be up soon, so that could change soon.

She strode through the doors of Gotham North high school, ready to take on the world. It wasn’t like Gotham Academy, where a good future was at the stake, and where people would judge her for her apartment or her parents’ records. This was Gotham North, where people earnedrespect. This was where Artemis belonged.

She wore her second-hand skinny jeans and V-neck long-sleeved shirt with every ounce of confidence that a life beating up practice dummies and criminals had given her. She’d chosen them carefully from her second-hand store and Salvation Army clothes, hiding her knives beneath the long sleeves. Her hair was pulled back into a braid, and her eyes were hard. A grey messenger bag was tossed over her shoulder, holding her school supplies and survival kit (including a collapsible crossbow).

“You new here?” A bottle-blonde with a purple sweater and a bored expression asked. She was tiny, barely scraping five-four and skinnier than was probably healthy.

“Yes,” Artemis said. “Artemis Crock. You?”

“Holly Robinson,” the other said, digging in her purse. “You got any gum?”

“Sorry, no,” Artemis said, smiling tentatively.

“Damn.” Holly sighed. “Whose homeroom?”

“Parker,” Artemis said, loosening her posture a little.

“Fun,” Holly said, looping an arm through Artemis’s. “Me too. C'mon newbie. I’ll show you the ropes.”

* * *

Artemis’s classes were all AP, unsurprisingly. Artemis wasn’t dumb. She’d managed to keep up decently at Gotham Academy, which meant that at Gotham North, she was basically in the running for Valedictorian now that she wouldn’t have her Dad pulling her out of school every now and then.

Holly, who seemed to have appointed herself Artemis’s guardian angel, thought it was hilarious. “Homeschool, huh?” She asked, shaking her head. “Didn’t work out so well for me.” Her smile was slightly bitter, and Artemis decided to never, ever ask about Holly’s childhood. Not that she probably would anyway. Gotham North was full of stories. It wasn’t in the East End, sure, but it was the worst school outside it. Gotham North saw the wealthier Crime Alley kids, the criminals who could afford to live outside of Crime Alley’s kids, and then just normal Gotham kids. Artemis wasn’t sure which group was worst off most of the time.

Artemis knew Gotham City. She knew how it worked. She’d seen it all the time. She walked through the hallways, knowing that one day; a good third of these kids would probably end up committing Crime. Gotham was like that.

Artemis caught the glimpse of a surprising amount of familiar faces in the hallways. There was Karon, her old chemistry partner. There wasCameron, who’d dropped out of school his freshman year in her world, when his mutation struck. He looked normal here, and happy.

She wondered if it would last. She didn’t speak to him.

* * *

The lunch at Gotham North was exactly as Artemis remembered it. Possibly even worse, she decided, poking at the pork and baked beans (cold and already congealing) and wilted salad with her plastic fork.

“This, newbie,” Holly said, looking very smug over her PB&J, “Is why you pack a lunch.”

“Or become a veggie,” a tall, Italian looking girl slid into the seat next to Holly. Her plate of food looked actually edible. “Helena,” she introduced herself.

Artemis looked the girl over. She had thick, dark hair that was pretty long (although Artemis still had the other girl beat hands down), wore a purple t-shirt, and had biceps that matched Artemis’s own. “I’m Artemis,” she said. “You really a vegetarian?”

“No, but it’s the only way to get decent food in this school,” Helena smirked.

“I’ve had worse,” Artemis said, stabbing a piece of lettuce and chewing it.

“Where?” Holly asked, skeptical. “Crime Alley?” She paused, frowning and tilting her head slightly. She’d actually lived in Crime Alley, Artemis realized, noticing the way that the girl pronounced her vowels. “No really, where?”

Artemis grinned. “My dad can’t cook at all.”

“How bad we talking here?” Helena asked, curious. Her fork drew patterns in her mashed potatoes absently.

“Food poisoning and ruined pans bad,” Artemis said, smirking faintly as she remembered. Dad had been awful. Artemis had always done her own cooking after the one time. Smoke alarms and angry neighbors had been bad enough. But then Dad has still made her eat it. To be entirely honest, she wasn’t sure if the whole incident hadn’t been on purpose.

Holly winced sympathetically, taking a bite out of her apple. “Yikes. That is bad.”

Artemis felt the tension ease out of her shoulders slightly. Maybe Gotham North wouldn’t be so bad.

* * *

Artemis walked home, grateful that her new apartment wasn’t too far from Gotham North. The winter air was freezing, nipping at Artemis’s exposed skin. She was grateful for the thick jacket she wore, although she wished she’d worn another pair of socks. Or three. The green scarf helped as well. It had been a Christmas present from M'gann. The small arrow charm that hung from it had been a present from Dick. The little troll better get all the arrow jokes out of his system before she actually started the heroism. She wasn’t sure how much more of them she could take.

God, Christmas. Birthdays. Last Christmas had been bad enough. The Team had huddled together in Wally and M'gann’s house. The place felthollow. Despite M'gann and Wally’s best efforts, the place didn’t feel like a home, any more than Artemis’s apartment did. There had been a small plastic Christmas tree, and they’d exchanged presents and ate food M'gann had made. It was a thousand times better than any Christmas Artemis had had since Mom went to prison, but Artemis couldn’t help but think that it should have been different. She should have been home, with Mom, making spiced pumpkin soup and cheesy potato casserole.

But, Artemis supposed, crowding onto a couch with the Team, squashed between Dick and Kaldur, watching Miracle on Thirty-Fourth Street, was a pretty good way to spend Christmas.

Much better than bandaging up her Dad’s latest wounds from work, anyway. Artemis hadn’t even realized it was Christmas until Mrs. Brown from upstairs knocked on the door to ask if Artemis wanted any of the leftover turkey.

Artemis did. She’d made herself and Dad turkey sandwiches and played the one Christmas CD they owned until Dad smashed it, complaining that he hated James Taylor. Artemis never bought a new one.

The thought occurred to Artemis that she might never see her mother again.

She was glad the wind was already making her eyes watering, so no one noticed that she was about to cry.

Artemis finally made it to her stairwell. She raced up the staircase, trying to warm herself up. The building’s heating was shoddy. Artemis was saving up for a space-heater. She didn’t have a shift tonight, luckily. She worked shifts at Woody’s Deli and Diner. It gave her money for things like the utilities. The rent came out of her share of Dick’s pawnings. It wouldn’t last forever, but it would have to do for now.

Her neighbors, the Montoya family, were loud and cheerful and noisy. Their daughter, Renee, was in the police academy. Their son was a fireman, and only came in on weekends. Mr. and Mrs. Montoya ran a grocery store down the road, where Artemis got the majority of her groceries at a decent price. They were good people, if a little old fashioned. They clucked about her father a lot, calling him a good-for-nothing lay about when they thought she wasn’t listening (they also forgot how thin the walls were). They kept inviting her over for dinner, trying to get “a little meat on her bones”. Artemis made a point of not accepting too often, but she did like it. They… they felt like a family.

She unlocked the door to her apartment, which was made of thick wood painted a peeling maroon. The apartment number (sixteen) was scrawled beside the doorbell in tiny, cramped handwriting. Wally and Dick had found her a welcome mat, and it had taken a lot of threatening to prevent them from putting a skull and crossbones on it. (One of these days, she really would kill those two.) The place only had one bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen/living room, but it was in decent condition all the same. The ceiling wasn’t crumbling, even if there were tiny patches of mold in some of the corners. The carpet was stained by cigarette smoke, as was the peeling wall paper. Artemis was still saving up to replace it. The cupboards looked like they’d been attacked with an axe, and there was a mysterious stain on the bedroom carpet that was probably blood.

The furniture was scavenged from the dump. The dining room chair were mismatched, and two were likely to collapse if somebody heavier than Dick sat on it. The table was in better shape, but Artemis couldn’t tell if all the nicks and dents were just from normal wear-and-tear or somebody going at the table with a butcher knife. The sofa was the actual worst. It was green, with embroideries of flowers and leaves. A spring poked out of the far left seat. A massive brown stain soiled the back of the middle cushion. Tiny bits of stuffing poked out in places along the rips. The coffee table wobbled under the weight of Artemis’s backpack, but it held up valiantly. (The Team had a bet going about how long it would last. Artemis won if it pulled out for the rest of the semester.)

But the place was cheap, and while the lock was crap, she’d replaced it with one that was much better, and added an industrial strength chain while she was at it.

She didn’t really need any more at the moment. The money she saved living like this now would help her later, when she needed the money for college. (Or emergency room visits when she managed to get shot while running around the city wearing Kevlar and spandex.) She wasn’t a super-genius like the rest of the Team, she needed to save as much as she could.

The heat wasn’t working today, Artemis noted as she let out a cloud of breath that swirled impressively. Of course. She grabbed all the blankets in the house, and piled them on the towel heater in the bathroom. She tugged on another pair of socks, and a pair of fingerless gloves. She went to her linoleum counter, opened a container of ramen, added water (at least the pipers weren’t frozen; small blessing) and put it in the microwave.

Nothing was going to keep her down.

She sat on the far right side of her battered couch, covered in blankets and eating ramen, and did her homework.


	6. CONNER KENT #1 - Fragment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, so the first five chapters were what was originally posted. However, while going through my files, I discovered a lot more previously-never-published material. It's un-edited, and often fragmented, but I thought I'd share it. I've split it up, and will add more material if I come across it. If anything isn't clear, just drop me a line and I'll try to provide context from my notes, but it's been five years or so, so we'll see how much sense this makes!

_ Year 1—Conner _

“I don’t like it,” Conner complained, staring down at the bright blue spandex outfit that he was wearing. He was dressed almost exactly like the Superman from their dimension, with a few changes in the length of the cape and the material.

“Listen,” Dick said for what was probably the hundred and seventeenth time, “Superman needs to give people hope. And _that_ means that you have to be a gigantic, colorful hero. No more sulky teenager in a T-shirt.”

Artemis laughed. “Don’t worry Conner. You’ll get used to it.” She gestured to the Green Arrow outfit that was hanging in a glass case, still nearly unworn. “That thing is going to _kill_ me once I graduate.”

“It will be pleasant having company out in the field again,” Kaldur said calmly. Unlike the rest of them, he had not found it necessary to change his outfit in the new dimension. No secret identity meant that he could get away with it. All he had required was a transition from Aqualad to Aquaman.

M’gann smiled, placing a hand on his arm. “You look wonderful,” she said. “You’re going to be great.”

“The big debut’s tomorrow,” said Dick. “I can’t _wait_ to see Luthor’s face.”

“It’s going to be priceless,” Wally agreed. “And I’ll _finally_ have an excuse for not selling his that prototype software program he’s been after for ages.”

In the costume, Conner looked like he _could_ be the great hero that this world needed. Aquaman was still small news—he only patrolled the coast and prevented environmental problems. Superman  would be the true start of heroics within this dimension. Martian Manhunter and the Flash would appear in Central City once Wally turned eighteen, and after Artemis’s graduation Batman and Green Arrow would start striking fear into the hearts of Gotham City’s criminals.

They were still working out when the Justice League would be formed though. Artemis and Dick were trying to get it put off until the first world crisis when it would make sense for them all to be required, much to Wally’s ire. The fastest man alive was pushing for an early debut—as soon as Batman and Green Arrow emerged, ideally. But Kaldur and the new Gothamite Duo squashed that down—it might look like they’d planned to emerge at the same time if they teamed up so soon after their appearance. They needed public trust before they could form a Justice League.


	7. KALDUR’AHM #1 – Fragment

Year 1—Kaldur

_ “This is Cat Grant, at the scene at Metropolis Bay, where we just witnessed the police arresting twenty-some criminals. They were discovered dumping  _ highly _toxic waste into the bay by an anonymous tip. Mysteriously, the ship’s engines were damaged earlier today, and enough evidence surfaced for the police to gain a warrant to search the vessel, preventing more toxic waste from being dumped today. The waste already dumped within the ocean has been estimated to do colossal environmental damage, and Lex Luthor, who is the employer of the men apprehended today, although claiming he had no knowledge of how his men were disposing of the toxic materials, has pledged to help clean up the area.”_

_ “Thank you Cat. We now go to the police station, where Iris West-Allen is discussing the finer points of the case with Detective Barrows.” _

_ Iris smiled at the camera charmingly, standing next to a middle-aged man with a tired smile. “So Detective Barrows, what can you tell us about the anonymous tip that led you to the case? Is it true that the tip was unusual?” _

_ The man laughed roughly. “Yes it was, Miss West-Allen. Most anonymous tips, they just come from 911 calls or the likes, y’know? Not this one though. Someone, ah, must have retrieved one of the barrels of toxic waste, because it was soaking wet, and left a note on top it, saying that they were being illegally dumped in the harbor by these criminals.” _

_ “Is it true that more of these barrels were recovered?” _

_ “Yes,” the man said, straightening his tie, “Yes, about seven of them have popped up over the last four days. Three at the station door, like the first one, and the others were returned to the docks, with a warning written in paint on the ground.” _

_ “What about the rumors that the vessel was sabotaged, causing the ship to be unable to leave port today?” _

_ “We believe so. The main engine was, well, trashed. It was like someone had taken a hammer to it.” _

_ “Do you have any leads to  _ who _was responsible for the sabotage or the tip?”_

_ “Not yet, Miss West-Allen, but we’re looking.” _

“Good job Kaldur!” Dick said, leaning back into the sofa with a grin. “Next time though, stick around for the cameras. We need to get photos circulating the web. Let people know that the age of heroes is coming.”

“I will attempt to, next time,” Kaldur said, clearly amused.

* * *

 

** Next time **

_ “This is Cat Grant, reporting to you live from Metropolis Bay, which has had its fair share of excitement today. Mrs. Watson, can you please tell me about what happened here today?” _

_ The woman was a heavyset but kind looking woman, with thin brown curls. Beside her was a little girl who clearly was her daughter. “Well, Jane and I were at the beach, and she was out swimming when this… sea serpent thing came out of the sea, and started attacking. People were panicking, and running all over the place, and I couldn’t get to Jane,” Mrs. Watson reached down, and grabbed her daughter’s hand tightly before continuing. “I was trying though, and so that’s how I saw  _ him _.”_

_ “Here is the footage, taken from the beach, containing the attack from earlier this afternoon.” _

_ A huge snake-like creature erupted from the sea, and the monster started making movements to attack people who were swimming nearby, although it failed to grab any of them. Screams filled the air, and the camera shook as the holder of the camera ran backwards, trying to get away without stopping the recording. _

_ People were scattering in all directions, running away from the beach, with one exception. _

_ A dark skinned blond man ran up to the edge of the water, leaping in, swimming towards the monster. A man cried out in the background, “What are you doing? Are you stupid?” _

_ The man was wearing a red leotard and a strange-backpack like device on his back.  The camera focused on him, before the screen went black. _

_ “That’s the last of the footage, but the man attacked the creature, driving it off. He then carried Jane to shore, and returned into the water without another word. Jane, did he say anything to you?” Cat was trying to be kind, and the attempt didn’t suit her very well. _

_ “He just said, ‘It will be okay,’” Jane said softly. “That’s it.” _

_ “Who is this mysterious figure?” Cat said dramatically. “And  _ why _hasn’t he been spotted since his return to the water? Hopefully, we’ll know soon. This is Cat Grant—”_

“Much better,” Artemis said approvingly. “Photos _and_ a viral video. You’re already famous.”

* * *

 

**_ AQUAMAN—THE HERO FROM THE DEEP _ **

_ By Perry White _

_ Today, the mysterious man who has been dubbed by the media as “Aquaman” made another appearance. _

_ After preventing another attack from the Metropolis Monster, (for details about the attack, see Pg. 2) Aquaman broke the pattern that he had developed over the past three months, and spoke to reporters. _

_ When questioned about his origins, Aquaman—or Kaldur’ahm, as he identified himself as—claims to be an inhabitant of Atlantis. Despite the absurdity of this claim, Aquaman did indeed have gills. When questioned about why he has come to the surface world, Kaldur’ahm stated that the state of pollution within the ocean has been reaching intolerable levels, and he intends to raise awareness in people who pollute legally, and to prevent those who would pollute illegally from doing so without consequence. _

_ When asked about the Metropolis Sea Monster, Aquaman said that as far as he could tell, the creature had been an ordinary eel before it had an encounter with one of the sites of toxic waste dumping earlier this year, leading to severe mutation (continued pg. 3). _


	8. M’GANN M’ORZZ #1 - Fragment

“What do you think?” M’gann asked, lengthening her cape and turning it black.

“Too cliché,” Artemis dismissed. “Keep the dark blue, it looks good. But the length is nice.”

“Should I get rid of the skirt?” M’gann asked. “I mean, I know I did for stealth missions, but should I for my new costume?”

Artemis looked up, and angled her head slightly. “It depends on the angle you’re going for. The approachable, cheerful, cheery angle would work with a skirt; but there could be some negative connotations of being the girly girl. What angle are you going for?”

“Um…” M’gann fiddled with the edge of her cape, which was dark blue again. “Nice, but competent?”

“Okay,” Artemis nodded. “We can work with that. If you’re working with that angle though… I think you should have to lose the skirt.”

A mental command, and she was once again in her stealth uniform, but slightly modified for her now-older body. “How’s this?”

“The design should work,” Artemis nodded in approval. “But we’ll have to work on the color scheme. Black is mostly going to be Dick’s color.”

“But you get green,” M’gann pretended to pout. “Not really fair, is it?”

Artemis laughed. “Try the white top, and dark blue pants. Keep the X.”


	9. WALLY WEST #2 - Fragment

 “She asked me out!” Wally yelled, elated, as he ran into the Cave.

“Who did?” Artemis asked innocently, smiling.

“Linda!” He sighed, eyes wide. “I think I’ve found the woman of my _dreams_ , Artemis! I mean, she’s so funny, and so smart, and…”

Artemis made a strange noise, but Wally was too busy waxing lyrical about Linda’s traits to really notice. “Well, I’m out of here,” she announced to the others. “There’s still work to do on the Gotham zeta-station.”

“I’ll come with you,” Dick said instantly, following Artemis out of the Cave.

As they left Wally’s earshot, Dick placed a hand on her arm. “Hey, it’s alright.”

“Of course it is,” Artemis said instantly. “Why wouldn’t it be? He’s happy. He’s finally dating that girl that he’s been drooling after for ages, and he’s happy, and it’s not like I care.”

“That bad?” Dick asked quietly. Artemis swallowed and looked away.

“I thought… I thought that he’d started to notice me.” Artemis snorted. “Hoped, more like. It’s just a stupid crush, don’t worry. I’ll get over it.”

“That’s the spirit!” Dick said, wrapping his arm around her waist, beaming at her cheekily. “Now come on. We’ve got work to do, and then how about I help you with your math homework?”

“Sounds good,” Artemis said with a smile.


	10. DICK GRAYSON #2 - Fragment

_ Year 2—Dick _

He kept it from the others for as long as he could. Yes, they knew he was doing it, but he kept it from them just the same. It felt like it was something that _he_ should do. Not them.

It took him awhile to find an entrance into the Cave—and when he had, it had been so small that he’d had to crawl and dig his way through. Now the entrance was proper and secure—not that anyone would be looking for it yet.

Mount Justice had only just been finished, but Dick already knew that this would be _his_ project more than anyone else’s. Even though he would share Gotham with Artemis for a while, Gotham was still _his_ city. His and Batman’s… he felt a stab of bitterness in his heart.

Sometimes, it was so _easy_ to forget that _he_ was Batman now.

He shoved those thoughts out of his mind as he attached the lighting to the ceiling of the Cave. This place was still so far from the Batcave he was used to, but it was getting much closer. The large computer that he was in the process of assembling was helping, as was the glass case where he kept his Robin costume, as well as the finished Batman costume—for emergencies only, of course. Dick gritted his teeth, and tested the latest light—two more _years_ before he would wear the costume properly.

It felt so _wrong_ to walk through Gotham’s streets, never to fly through them. To read about muggings and robberies and murders, knowing that he hadn’t done anything about them, despite the fact that he _should_.

But he swallowed this bitter feeling again. He couldn’t do it yet. He wasn’t ready. He wondered if this was like Bruce had felt, while he was preparing for his debut as Batman. As Wally pointed out, no one would take a fourteen-year old Batman seriously, no matter how terrifying his glare had gotten over the last year.

Dick dropped to the ground, tucking himself into a neat somersault, landing lightly, and flipped the switch. The Batcave flickered to life, and he grinned proudly. He was well on his way now.

He sat down at his workbench, and got back to work at the Batmobile designs.

\--

WECOME TO THE ANNUAL INTER-GOTHAM MATH TOURNAMENT the banner read.

“Isn’t this great Babs?” Dick said, arm wrapped around his girlfriend and a smile on his face. “I mean math and people—this is going to be so much fun!”

Babs shot him a look. “I woke up at five AM,” she said, voice slightly dangerous. “It is only six thirty. I was promised coffee and donut holes.”

“Do you doubt me?” He exclaimed, pecking her on the cheek. “I’ll go find you coffee. There’s a refreshment stand. Go and find Bette.”

“I think Bette said she was skipping this,” Babs muttered. “Like I should have.” She walked away.

“Oh come on!” Dick called after her. “This will be fun!”

“She’ll probably be more cheerful after her coffee,” an unfamiliar voice said behind him. Dick turned around to see who it was.

It was a tall boy, about a year older than Dick. He had strawberry blonde hair and smiling blue eyes. He was thin as a rail, wearing a loose trench coat and a bright yellow shirt. A thick book was visible in his coat pocket, and he had a pencil in his hand that he was spinning.

“Yeah, she probably will,” Dick said, grinning. “I’m Dick Grayson. You?”

“Victor Sage,” the boy said.

“Gotham… East?”

“That’s right. Academy?”

“What gave it away? The uniform?” Dick grinned.

“Maybe.” The boy gave him a smile. “Refreshment stand is over there,” he nodded to a long table and a ridiculously long line. Dick caught sight of Artemis, who looked like a zombie, and like she was contemplating the murder of her friend.

Victor followed Dick’s gaze. “Teenagers and coffee,” he said, shrugging. “I actually have this theory about Starbucks…”

“Who doesn’t?” Dick laughed, grinning at him. “Come on, we all know they’re mixing the caffeine with nicotine, thus creating the ultimate coffee addiction.”

“I thought that was obvious,” Victor said without a beat. “I was referring to the diamonds they smuggle into the US with the beans. Explains the price, doesn’t it?”

Dick burst out laughing. “I like you, Vic. I really do.”

“My name is Victor.”

“Yeah, good luck with that.”

“So you’re the killer team from Gotham North that is supposed to stand a chance?” Dick said, slipping up between Artemis’s two female friends. The three flinched in unison, and Dick quickly stepped back to avoid the dark haired girl’s bag, which she swung at him with amazing ferocity. The red haired girl reached into her purse, but calmed down when she saw him. Artemis just shot him a glare.

“You bet,” the red head shot back. “You snobs are finally going _down_.”

“Oh come on,” Dick scoffed. “That’s just as likely as Gotham Academy actually beating you guys at basketball.”

“Never going to happen?” Artemis asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You said it, not me!” Dick shot a cocky grin at her, knowing she hated it. “Dick Grayson, My specialty is calculus and speed multiplication.”

“Holly Robinson,” the red head said, removing her hand from her purse. “Algebra.”

“Helena Bertinelli,” the dark haired girl said. “I refuse to list my specialties.”

“Artemis Crock,” Artemis said. “Geometry.”

“Ooh, arcs and angles and stuff?” Dick asked, smirking.

“Especially stuff,” Holly agreed. “Now you better scamper, Dick. Artemis still hasn’t had her coffee.”

“Why do you think Cam isn’t here?” Helena said, snorting. “The guy knows better.”

“Then why are you here?” Artemis asked.

“Because I stand a chance,” Helena said, smiling. “Black belt or no, me and my mighty bag of bricks can take you down.”

“Oh, _that’s_ what’s in there?” Holly asked innocently. “I thought that was just your homework.”

“Both,” Helena declared. “It’s why it weighs more than you!”

Holly looked down at her narrow waist.

“So Dick… where’d he go?” Helena said, suddenly noticing the absence of the Academy boy.

“Here!” Dick said, slipping back between Artemis and Holly, burdened with three coffees and a large assortment of pastries. “For you, ladies!”

“Charmer,” Helena said, amazed, seizing a coffee and a chocolate donut.

“Why, thank you!” Dick said, bowing as well as he could without spilling coffee on himself.

“Gotta say,” Holly said, mouth ringed with powdered sugar. “For an Academy brat, you’re pretty cool.”

“She says that to anyone who feeds her,” Artemis said to Dick in a stage whispered. “She’s got the weirdest metabolism ever. She just _eats_ , and never stops.”

“Or gains a pound,” Helena added.

“You say it like it’s a _good_ thing,” Holly said. “I’ve been trying to break the hundred pound threshold! It’s not healthy to be this light!”

Dick laughed. “I have a friend like that…” he said, making eye contact with Artemis and winking. She rolled her eyes at him. He smirked.

“Hey Vic!” He called to the strawberry blonde. “You mind taking a picture of me and the girls?”

“It’s Victor,” the other boy said, nonplused, but he accepted Dick’s phone.

The girls grinned, and Dick tossed one arm over Artemis’s shoulder, and wrapped his other around Holly’s waist.

Right before Vic snapped the picture, Dick whispered in Artemis’s ear.

“Is it someday yet?”

They laughed.


	11. DICK GRAYSON #3 - Fragment

_Year 3—Dick_

James Gordon was getting too old for this. He knew that as he stood at the scene of the crime.

This was the third one this week. The criminals were bound together in the center of the room, with evidence of their crimes surrounding them.

He ran his hands through his hair as he walked up to one of the criminals, who appeared to be waking up. Maybe luck would be with him this time, and he’d figure out who was doing this. “What happened?” he demanded, using his harshest voice, the one he used when disciplining rookies who had made mistakes and got someone killed.

One of the crooks, a bulky man who was missing teeth, winced at the sound of his voice, and stammered. “It was Batman! That’s what the girl called him anyway.”

Batman? Jim groaned internally. A vigilante in Gotham was the last thing that he needed, with a corrupt department, rampant crime, and Barbra hitting a rebellious phase on his plate at the moment.

“Harvey, take these three back to Headquarters and question them,” he ordered. “Get their descriptions of this ‘Batman.’”

“Got it,” Harvey said, gesturing to Renee to help him transport the crooks into a squad car.

As they moved the trio of criminals, Jim found what he had been expecting where they’d been sitting. A single bright green arrow and a small bat-shaped throwing knife.  The marks of these new vigilantes.

Artemis looked down as the commissioner got into his police car and drove away. “I think we’re driving him crazy,” she said, lowering her hood, revealing her modified cowl and blonde bob cut.

Dick shrugged. “We need an ally within the police force. Captain Gordon is the best choice. Trust me.”

“Of course I do,” Green Arrow said, smiling widely. “Let’s go.”

The two Gotham heroes swung off into the night.

* * *

 

_Year 3—Dick_

Lex Luthor eyed the convention doubtfully. These children were supposed to be the best and the brightest—the hope for the future, etc. He was even scheduled to make a speech about it in a little bit.

But he was really only here for one reason. “Ah, you must be Richard Grayson!” he said, placing his best smile on his face as he shook the hand of the teenager. “Lex Luthor. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too Mr. Luthor!” the boy said enthusiastically, pumping Luthor’s hand up and down. “It’s such an honor to meet you sir, and thank you so much for inviting me to this convention!”

“How are you liking it so far?” he asked, eying the young genius. Clear, clever blue eyes shone from under a thick wave of black hair. The boy wasn’t very tall, but he was hardly tiny. He had broad shoulders and a charming smile, but he hardly seemed capable of producing the amazing scientific advancements that Richard Grayson had patented over the last two years.

“It’s _great_ , Mr. Luthor!” Richard said, beaming.

“I had a look at that new software system you designed just last month,” Luthor said, gesturing for the boy to sit. “Brilliant work. You have a very bright future ahead of you, young man.”

“Thanks, Mr. Luthor!” the sixteen year-old sat down.

“So are you making plans for your future?” Luthor asked.

“Not many,” the boy said, biting his lip. “But Mr. Wayne’s already offered to send me to MIT if I make it in.”

“Oh I’m sure you will Richard,” Luthor said, smiling, although he was fuming internally. Of course Wayne had already gotten to the boy. “That’s very kind of Bruce.”

“Mr. Wayne’s been really kind to me,” the boy admitted, smiling sheepishly. “He’s funded my scholarship to the Gotham Academy, and with the college help…”

“I’m surprised you even need his help for that scholarship,” Luthor said, leaning forward. “Those patents of yours…”

The boy smiled. “It makes enough to live off, but it’s not enough for school as well.”

“Oh yes, I forgot you live alone,” Luthor said, trying to remember the details of the boy’s file.

“Hey Mr. Luthor!” A familiar red-head popped up.

“Ah, Wally,” Luthor stood up, shaking the young man’s hand. “Good to see you again.”

“You too, Mr. Luthor!”

“Richard, do you know Wally West? He’s a student at MIT, just as you hope to be. I believe Oliver Queen is helping you, am I right Wally?” Not like Queen would ever let him live it down… he’d missed his chance at winning the loyalty of the two brightest minds of the new generation.

“That’s right, Mr. Luthor,” Wally said, shaking hands with Richard. “It’s nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you Wally,” the dark haired boy said. “I read your paper on Neuron Particles last week. Really interesting stuff!”

“Ah yes,” Luthor said, smiling distantly. “An excellent paper. Very well researched. I’m surprised you had time to do all that research, with all the coursework you have to do for MIT.”

“What can I say Mr. Luthor?” Wally said, shrugging amiably. “I just work fast.”


	12. ARTEMIS CROCK #3 – Fragment

_Year 3—Artemis_

Gordon sipped his coffee, switching to the next slide on his PowerPoint. “As you know, the new vigilantes have been _very_ active in the last few months.” He pushed his glasses up his nose, looking at the notes from the department’s profiler—the clean one, that is. The dirty one could _not_ be trusted on this case. “The first reported activity was on the thirtieth of May, when Detective Bullock found a mugger dangling from a lamppost. Over the past three months, these vigilantes have been revealed to be going to the pseudonyms of Green Arrow and Batman.”

He flipped the slide again, revealing a picture of a tall woman, who was wearing green spandex, a yellow belt, and a quiver, filled to the brim with arrows. She held a bow drawn with an arrow knocked, aiming for a criminal. Her hood was drawn, hiding her hair and throwing her face into shadow. “This,” he continued, ignoring the whistles from his department, “Is Green Arrow. We don’t have any pictures of Batman yet, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.”

He looked at his notes again. “Our profiler believes we are dealing with a sibling team. Their age range has been estimated as being anywhere from their early twenties to their mid thirties. They’re mostly active at night from what we can tell, although there have been a few cases of daylight spotting for Green Arrow.”

“So what, we’ve got a couple of people dressing up in spandex and callin’ themselves heroes?” Will Rogers called from the back, and Jim did his best to keep his dislike for the dirty cop from showing on his face. “They’ll get themselves killed soon enough, ‘less they’re freaks like that Superman.”

“It’s Aquaman’s fault,” Bullock grumbled softly. “First him, then Superman, then the Flash and that Martian lady, and now _we’ve_ got people in spandex.”

Gordon kept his face neutral. “As it is, Mayor Hill has had me issue arrest warrants for the two, and we are to do our best at taking them down.”

* * *

“Hello Gordon,” Green Arrow greeted him as he walked to his car the next night.

He nearly leapt into the air, hand going for his gun. “What do you want?” he asked, eying the woman.

She smiled, lowering her hood, revealing short blond hair that hung freely around her face, which was concealed by a cowl, all but her mouth. “Just to talk,” she said.

“Where’s your partner?” he said, still fingering his weapon, remembering the crook found last week, pinned to the wall of an alley perfectly by a series of arrows. She hadn’t even pierced the skin.

“Batman’s busy tonight,” Green Arrow said, smiling. “You’ll hear about it soon enough.”

“Why are you here then?” he said, eying her, trying to get something concrete about this woman—girl?

“This,” she said simply, reaching into her quiver, causing Gordon to pull out his gun. “Easy,” she laughed infuriatingly, tossing a folder onto the ground.

He crouched, keeping an eye on her as he picked it up. “What’s this?”

“Enough info to help you clear out your department of the dirtiest cops,” she said, smiling in a vicious way.

“You and Batman are determined to do this then?” Gordon said, flipping open the folder, looking at the evidence that had been gathered. “Clean up Gotham?”

She nodded, voice distant. “It’s his mission really. He made a promise, a long time ago. So I agreed to help him. Until he can do it on his own.”

“The day a single man can help Gotham is a happy day,” Gordon said.

“Maybe,” Green Arrow said, shrugging. “Or maybe not.” She took a step back, fading into the shadows.

Gordon turned his attention back to the file, and let a smile climb onto his face.

Maybe having vigilantes in Gotham wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.

* * *

“Dammit Cam!” Artemis yelled, running her fingers through her hair, “What were you _thinking_?”

* * *

“Well, I’m surprised,” Holly said to Artemis as the archer walked through the door.

Artemis raised her eyebrows at her roommate. “And here I thought you were beyond surprise.”

“So did I,” Holly said, tossing her shoulder-length red hair with a flair and a smirk, “But then I found _this_ in the bottom of your closet.” She brandished the Green Arrow costume. Artemis’s stomach plunged downward.

Artemis’s mouth hung open, and panic seized her. Everything could be ending now. Her hands clenched into fists, her fingernails digging into her palms. “ _How_ did you break into that?” Artemis demanded. It had been buried in a secret panel, with a _DNA Scanner_.

“I got bored,” Holly shrugged, flopping down onto her bed.

“That was top of the line tech!”

“I was _really_ bored.”

“Why were you even _in_ my closet?”

“What part of ‘I was bored’ isn’t sinking in, Artie?”

Artemis crossed her arms, trying to hide her panic, and glared. “You broke through Batman’s security systems. Because you were _bored_.”

“I thought we had already established this. Tell Batman thanks for the challenge--wait, Batman’s not _Cam_ , is he?”

“He’s _not_ Cam,” Artemis said flatly.

“Oh. Does Cam know then?”

“Yes, he knows that I’m Green Arrow,” Artemis sighed, wondering what she had done to deserve Holly Robinson as her best friend. She supposed this was an improvement to finding Holly and Karon making out on her bed. Marginally.

“Not that! He knows you’re doing it with Batman, right?”

Artemis choked on the air she was breathing. “Doing the what-now with the who?”

“Teasing, Artie, teasing.” Holly rolled onto her back, stretching her legs into the air. “I am impressed though. I had a bet going with Karon that Green Arrow dyed her hair.”

Artemis rolled her eyes, putting the costume back.

“Also, I like the costume,” Holly said, idly checking her hair. “Hey, do you think I’d look good with blue hair?”

“I thought Karon liked it red,” Artemis said.

“Yeah, but I’m bored with it. But anyway, no padding on the costume. I was _so_ sure it had to be padded. No wonder you wear those god-awful sweaters all the time. Probably any guy in Gotham could identify you as Green Arrow just by staring at your--”

“Holly!”

“Sorry.”

“Why am I friends with you?”

“You secretly enjoy my company?”

“It must be buried very deeply.”

“Ah, c’mon Artie.”


	13. M’GANN M’ORZZ #3 – Fragment

It was a beautiful day in Metropolis. The sky was a light blue with a few streaky clouds. The sun shone brightly, the temperature was seventy-four degrees Fahrenheit, low humidity, and Superman could be seen flying overhead, on patrol. Artemis Crock sat on a park bench, reading a book. She was here to visit the local college, and to keep an eye on the situation.

Today the Team was implementing Operation Falling Star. She fingered the collapsible bow in her purse, which was disguised as a small makeup kit. Right next to it was a camera, which she would use to get as many pictures as possible. The Team needed more publicity.

“Everything’s clear, Lady Martian,” Batman’s rough, gravelly voice (so different from Dick’s) said over the intercom. Artemis kept her head bent, her closely cropped blonde hair hiding the small clear plastic device in her ear.

“Roger that Batman,” M’gann replied. “Beginning approach to Earth at top speed.”

“Excellent,” Aquaman said.

“Look lively, people!” Flash said, hitting a keyboard at a frantic pace, if the clacking noise in the background was any indication, “The bio-ship has been detected by the satellites.”

“The bio-ship is flying as though damaged, as instructed,” Lady Martian said, voice firm.

“What’s the official response to the initial sightings?” Superman asked.

“Nothing yet… they’re trying to analyze the pictures before they do anything. I wouldn’t be too surprised if we get military response once you reach Metropolis though.” Batman said.

“The military will know that Superman will handle it,” Flash said absently.

“Not everyone in the military trusts Superman,” Aquaman reminded Wally firmly. “General Lane, for one, has been spearheading a campaign for his removal.”

“Luthor’s funding him,” Conner noted, humor in his voice. “Both through LexCorp and sixteen dummy corporations.”

“At least he isn’t supplying them with Kryptonite yet,” Batman said darkly.

“Well, he can’t, can he? No sign of Kryptonite anywhere on Earth,” Wally said cheerfully, “Which means that Krypton hasn’t been destroyed yet, or if it has, Kal-El and the kryptonite hasn’t reached Earth yet.”

There was silence for several incredibly painful minutes.

“Entering the atmosphere at the agreed angle,” M’gann said. “Any word from the military?”

“Nothing yet,” Wally said. “I’ll keep watching, just in case.”

“Approaching maximum velocity,” M’gann said, voice tight.

Artemis turned the page of her book, face carefully neutral as she listened to her friends talk.

Time passed slowly. Artemis finished her chapter, and then dug out her iPod, hooking one bud into the ear that didn’t have her communicator in it.

“Entering the sky over Metropolis,” M’gann said. “Estimated time until landing… five minutes. I should be within sight soon.”

“I see you,” Conner said. “Once the civilians have seen you, I’ll catch you and land the bio-ship in the park, near Artemis.”

Artemis glanced upwards for a moment, spotting a faint, rapidly moving speck in the sky above her. She returned her attention to her book.

The people of Metropolis were slightly more likely to look up than their counterparts in Gotham or Central or Star Cities. This was true for both worlds. So, unlike Gotham, whose population would failed to have noticed the smoking bio-ship until it reached the level of the rooftops, they noticed it when it was about twice as high as the Daily Planet.

People started screaming for Superman and racing around like headless chickens. Perry White could be seen dashing out of the Daily Planet building, trailed by a nameless photographer. Cat Grant’s news van screeched down the street, and parked on the side of the road, Cat Grant emerged moments later, make-up flawless, and she began to yammer at the camera.

Artemis started snapping pictures with her own camera, smiling as Conner raced through the air, grabbing the bio-ship and trying to slow it down. M’gann was clearly helping him, as he stopped the ship a bit quicker than probably was possible, but then again, physics were more Wally’s department than Artemis’s.

 He slowly guided the ship down into the park, landing only twenty feet from Artemis. A crowd gathered quickly, whispering things about the shape of the bio-ship (one of the wings appeared to be damaged), it’s origin (people had already pinned it down as a space-ship of sorts, not a meteorite, which gave Artemis hope for the human race), and its condition (it was still giving off smoke).

“Stay back,” Superman told the people, frowning. “There’s someone alive in there.”

Artemis pushed her way to the front of the crowd, camera in hand.

A door appeared in the ship, and opened, sending more smoke into the air. The crowd nearly exploded, tensed and prepared. Conner leaned forward, as if to prepare to attack whatever would emerge from the ship. Artemis hid her laughter in a coughing fit.

M’gann emerged out of the smoke, and the crowd screamed. The form that M’gann had chosen to represent Lady Martian was five feet ten inches, with short red hair, and narrower facial features than Megan Morse. (Dick had pointed out that in the age of the Internet and photo manipulation, simply changing skin tone would not be acceptable.) The blue cape reached her knees, but was pushed back, revealing her white shirt with the red X symbol, and her tight-fitting black pants were tucked into the red knee-length boots she wore. And her skin was, of course, very green.

“ _J’rall, tnell koma E’arth, u’ten koma roquo tue M’gann J’onzz komo M’arzz!”_ M’gann said, smiling charmingly at Superman.

Conner blinked, the picture of confusion. “I’m sorry ma’am… I’m afraid I don’t understand you.”

M’gann tilted her head to the side. “ _Pothee, render c’zen komo tsall?_ ”

Superman blinked again, looking perfectly confused, and Artemis snapped a picture of his face with a grin. (It would be a meme on the Internet within hours of posting.) “I’m sorry…”

“Oh, is that how you say it?” M’gann asked, smiling. The audience gasped as she spoke. “I’m sorry about that. It took me a little while to establish the telepathic link. My name is M’gann J’onzz of Mars. Who would you be?”

“I am Superman, ma’am. I am the defender of this city,” Superman said, looking at her.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Superman,” M’gann said. She looked around. “I’m sorry if my landing caused much disturbance…”

“No one was hurt, Miss J’onzz,” Conner reassured her. “May I ask as to why you… landed here?”


	14. WALLY WEST #5 - Fragment

“You want me to _what_?” Artemis asked, raising an eyebrow at Wally.

“Come to a party with me,” her boyfriend said, far too cheerful.

“Yes, but _with your Rogues_?”

Wally looked confused. “Captain Boomerang got out of prison early for good behavior,” he said. “They’re throwing a party to celebrate.”

“And they invited you,” she said, incredulous. “The guy they try to kill on a regular basis?”

“Only when I’m trying to stop them!” Wally protested. “It’s how things work in Central!”

“This is like how they know your secret identity, isn’t it?” Artemis asked, shaking her head.

“And the police department,” Wally said, grinning.

“One of these days you’re going to have to tell me how that happened,” Artemis said, laughing.

“I shall take that secret to my grave,” Wally vowed. “You will never get it out of me.”

“Not even if I go with you and hang out with your slightly deranged friends?”

“Not even, but I hope you do,” he said, begging puppy-eyed at her.

She gave in, sinking down. “Are you asking Artemis or Green Arrow?”

“Artemis,” he said, grinning sheepishly. “Green Arrow would make ‘em nervous. They wouldn’t think you understood how it works in Central.”

“Well I don’t, but that’s beside the point,” Artemis said. “I’ll zeta-tube to your place at five?”

“Sounds fine, beautiful,” he said, pecking her on the cheek. “You’ll _love_ the guys!”

* * *

 

“Hey Flasher!” the Trickster said, beaming crookedly. “Who’s your friend?”

“Artemis, this is the Trickster,” Wally said. “Trickster, this is Artemis.” 

“Nice to meet you,” the man said, mischievous eyes twinkling.

“Hey Flasher!” Digger called, raising his glass to his nemesis.

“Hey Digger,” Wally greeted, smiling. “Artemis, this is Digger, more commonly known as Captain Boomerang.”

“Nice party,” Artemis said, watching the Pied Piper playing darts against Captain Cold out of the corner of her eye.

The man laughed. “I’m surprised you came with him to this place. Most wouldn’t.”

Artemis rolled her eyes. “Wally’s quite persuasive.”

“Who’d’ve thought?” Mirror Master said, popping out of a wall-length mirror. “His charm finally won him a girl.”

“Artemis, this is Sam,” Wally said, clasping the man on the shoulder, like he was a friend instead of an enemy. “Sam, this is Artemis, my girlfriend.”

“I think you just broke Piper’s heart,” Digger snarked, taking a large sip of his beer.

“Doubt it,” Wally laughed. “I think James has beaten me to it a _long_ time ago.”

Agreement was muttered by Sam, who signaled for the barman to get him a drink.

The party was great—although Artemis told far too many embarrassing stories about him for his taste, and got along almost scarily well with the Rogues, who all informed Wally that they liked her—and ended far too soon for Wally’s taste.

“Goodnight Wally,” Artemis told him, kissing him before walking into the zeta-tube. “I had fun.”

“So did I,” he said, smiling after her.


	15. DICK GRAYSON #5 - Fragment

_Year 5—Dick_

The smoke cleared slowly, revealing the source of the glowing green eyes.

Standing up slowly in the middle of the newly formed crater was a woman. Her glowing green eyes were in the center of a pretty face, framed by _really_ long curly red hair. Her skin was golden, almost orange, and she wore a tight fitting leotard-like piece with knee high boots and metal arm guards on her wrists. Her abdomen and neck were armored, and a circlet was tangled in her poofy hair. Her hands were clenched in fists, and a circle of green energy surrounded them.

“ _Grospnar! Machilar condla_!” The woman demanded, taking flight so she could look them in the eye. She raised her fists into the air, pointing them at the heroes.

“The Gordanians spoke English, didn’t they? Why can’t she?” The Flash muttered to Green Arrow, who had an arrow aimed at the alien.

“Don’t know,” Green Arrow said, watching with wary eyes.

The woman surveyed the six heroes warily. Her gaze focused on Batman. Slowly, she allowed the glow to fade from her hands and eyes, and floated down to land in front of him. “ _Gespa’lan gordanar riglmonsnen_ …” It sounded like a warning or a threat.

“I don’t understand you,” Batman said flatly.

“I can try to establish a telepathic link,” Lady Martian offered hesitantly, stepping up next to Batman.

“After what happened with the Gordanian?” Superman growled.

“I’ll be fine Superman!” Lady Martian protested, frowning at him. “I can look after myself!”

“You nearly died!”

“I am perfectly—” the couple’s bickering stopped in shocked silence as the alien grabbed Batman and pulled him into a deep kiss.

“Who saw that coming? Because I certainly didn’t!” The Flash called out. “Does someone have a camera? Please?”

Green Arrow burst out laughing, putting her arrow back into her quiver. “Don’t they need to breathe?”

“Eh, Supes and Miss M have gone longer,” the Flash said lightly, throwing an arm over her shoulder, which she shrugged off right away.

“We’re in public,” she pointed out with a glare.

“We are in the middle of the woods, far away from any cameras! Besides, even if there _were_ any, they’d be too busy watching the Dark Knight play tonsil hockey to pay attention to us.”

Green Arrow looked a bit nauseated. “Don’t say that! He’s my little _brother_!”

“Ooh, now you’re just giving the tabloids more information. Did you see this week’s headline? _Batman and Superman Caught in Intimate Embrace_.”

Green Arrow snorted. “People have too much time on their hands.”

“Yeah, they really do.”

“It’s sad.”

“Yep.”

There was a pause.

“ _Do_ they need to breathe?” The Flash asked conversationally. “I mean, I know the current internet theory is that Batman can breathe in space, but surely he _does_ need oxygen at one point or another…”

“If it goes on much longer, I’m getting Kaldur to soak them,” Green Arrow declared. “He’s _Batman_. This is killing his reputation.”

“I must agree,” Kaldur said, looking a bit exasperated. “We must be continuing with our investigation...”

The alien pulled away from Batman, eyes still glowing with the eerie green light. “My name is Koriand’r,” she said in perfect English. “Who are you, and what is your connection to the Gordanians?”

Dick was so surprised, he almost forgot to deepen his voice. “I’m Batman,” he growled, trying to shrug off her grip on his shoulder, but it was like steel.

“Green Arrow,” Artemis said, bow drawn again. “And we’re currently very high on the Gordanian’s shit list for blowing up their ship.”

Koriand’r blinked. The glow faded. “It was _you_ who destroyed the prison ship?”

“Well, mostly Supey here,” Wally said, jabbing his thumb towards Conner.

“You are _not_ allies of the Gordanians then?” Her grip loosened slightly on Dick’s shoulder.

“Not at all,” Artemis said, still aiming an arrow at the alien. “What about you?”

“Hardly,” the redhead said, face twisting and releasing Dick completely. “I owe them only pain.”

“You were a prisoner,” Dick said, his tone making it clear that he already knew.

“ _Prize_ was their word of preference,” she said bitterly. Her eyes were still pure green, even though the glow had faded. “If you seek to drive them out of your world...” She looked at Conner and M’gann. “Worlds, that is, you can count me as your ally.”

“Well,” M’gann said, floating towards Koriand’r. “Seven always was a good number!”


	16. ARTEMIS CROCK #7 – Fragment

_ Year 7--Artemis _

Artemis was standing in a concrete corridor. Her gaze darted along the hallway. It went well over a hundred feet in either direction, before both sides split into a T. It was poorly lit by single light bulbs every ten feet or so, ten feet above her, well out of reach. 

Artemis scowled, still clutching the knife she’d gotten off the thug. She still had no idea where she was. 

Picking a direction at random, Artemis went left.

* * *

 

An hour later, Artemis knew she was in a maze of some kind. The corridors twisted and snaked in all directions, including trapdoors, a pic of snakes so cliche that Artemis composed a haiku about it, and a water-filled room that brought back rather unpleasant memories of Red Torpedo. 

Artemis had no clue at  _ all _ who had the resources to build a place like this, the motive to kidnap her and put her in here, and the ego-control not to make it immediately obvious who it was. 

Artemis wrung out her hair, scowling at the now-ruined blouse. Luckily, the place was well heated. Suddenly, she heard footsteps. Her head snapped up, and she pulled out the knife. 

A man and a woman, the woman holding a pistol and the man a crossbow, turned the corner. Artemis struck out, tackling the woman bodily. The woman shouted something obscene in _ Polish _ of all things, but Artemis managed to get the gun away from her, kicking it out of reach. A quick blow to the right temple left the woman stunned, and Artemis turned her attention to the man. 

Artemis charged him, dodging the bolts he fired with ease. She punched him right in the solar plexus, winding him, before grabbing the crossbow. Three more hits (one to the gut, one to the jaw, one to the temple) and the man was out cold on the ground. 

She threw the gun into the water, letting it sink to the bottom of the twenty-feet deep pit. She checked out the crossbow. It was similar to hers, collapsable and quick reloading, although the bolts were of lower quality. 

She stashed the crossbow in the hidden holster she carried, and then stole the woman’s heavy boots and the man’s thick coat. She had no idea how long it would take her to get out, after all.

She continued down the maze. 

* * *

Artemis had to take down three more people that day. She got another knife, more crossbow bolts, and a bag filled with a water bottle and dried food. After what she estimated to be seven hours of wandering through the concrete maze, she found another cell and barricaded herself in so that she could sleep. 

She woke up a few hours later, far from refreshed, but ready to go.

* * *

 

Artemis didn’t know how long she had been down there any more. Her days had become of fighting, sleeping, scavenging for food and weapons, and her ever-continuing search for the exit.

Her hair was now crudely cut right above her chin, slightly lopsided because it had been done in a hurry with a slightly dull knife. She now wore clothes that didn’t quite fit, because they were taken off the people who had tried to kill her. There was a knee-length skirt with slits for increased movement, and thick leggings under that. Her shirt was heavy and long sleeved, although it was baggier and lower cut than Artemis would have liked. 

Artemis stepped over the unconscious forms of the three thugs, breathing heavily as she nursed a cut that a scimitar had made on her arm. She was sure that the people in the maze were getting more and more skilled, the longer she stayed in here.  _ And _ more heavily armed. 

She glared at the threefold path in front of her. She’d been here before, a while ago, she was sure of that. She had picked left then, so she’d have to go with the center path this time. 

She sighed, holstering her crossbow. 


	17. ARTEMIS CROCK #9 – Fragment

** Location: Star City **

** Date: May 3 2014 **

** Time: 12:13 PCT **

“Lex!” Olive pumped his hand up and down,beaming widely under his beard. “Great to see you again!”

“Oliver,” Lex replied, smiling to mask his distaste for the man. Next to him, Merc stood as impassive as ever. “Likewise.”

The door opened, and a pretty blonde woman in an impeccable suit walked in. “Mr. Queen, Conference Room Two is ready for you and Mr. Luthor.”

Queen beamed at her. “Thnk you Artemis. Lex, have you met her? She’s my new PA. She’s saved my life three times over I swear.”

“I wouldn’t say that, Mister Queen,” the woman said with only a hint of a smile. 

“Charmed,” Lex said, nodding. Mentally, he evaluated her. Tall, fit, mid- to late-twenties. Possibly of Asian descent. There was a thin band of gold with a single diamond on her left hand and gold hoops in her ears. She gave off an air of competence. He gave Mercy a significant look. He wanted her investigated. 

* * *

Lex looked at the file in front of him, impressed. Crock was indeed competent. Professional, smart if her test scores and double major with honors were anything to go by, and with an interest in the martial arts. Crock could be an  _ asset _ . 

 


	18. WALLY WEST #12 - Fragment

“Hello Artemis,” Zoom called. The blonde froze, clutching her seven month old children to her chest.

“Hunter,” she whispered. “You’re…” her eyes took him in, noting the costume. She swallowed. All of Wally’s Rouges knew who were she and Wally lived, but _none_ of them had ever come to their house.

He smiled mirthlessly. “You heard about what happened?”

“Yes,” Artemis said softly. “I heard.” She clutched Irey and Jai tightly.

“I don’t blame Wally, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Zoom said, walking in. Artemis nearly choked with fear. Wally had told her about Zoom’s rampage, although she had been helping Batman in Gotham at the time. People had _died_. Zoom was merciless, even towards children.

“Then why are you here?” Artemis demanded, eying the closet where her bow was hidden cautiously. Hunter had never known about her being Green Arrow, even though he, like every other member of the police department, had known about Wally being the Flash. Cops and Rouges kept his double life a secret, something Artemis always found amusing.

“I was thinking, Artemis,” her old friend said, standing in front of her. Artemis cursed herself for thinking herself safe within her own home. Just because none of the Rouges had ever taken advantage didn’t mean that no one ever would… her bow did her little good hidden away! “About what it means to be a hero.”

“You’re not one, that’s for sure,” Artemis spat out, pressing her League communicator hidden in her watch as subtly as she could. “Not after Tuesday.”

Hunter smiled slightly. “True. But Wally is.” Artemis bit her lip, eying the zeta station, well disguised until she turned it on. She could get to the Watchtower, and take the kids with her—Wally had already programmed their children into the system. But she would have to get around Zoom first. “You know what he could _do_ , Artemis? If he stopped holding himself back? If he worked harder, and put those _criminals_ away where they belonged? If he _broke_ that endless, vicious cycle? Central City would be crime free! A paradise!”

“You’re a criminal too, _Zoom_ ,” Artemis said, trying to work out how to get to the light switch that would turn on the zeta-station. “Or have you forgotten already?”

“I know that Artemis,” Zoom said calmly, and Artemis saw something _wrong_ in his eyes. Just like in the Joker’s. Something so purely broken, that absolutely nothing could bring it together again. To see those eyes, and to associate them with her friend Hunter Zolomon… Artemis tightened her grip on her sleeping twins. “Do you know what holds him back?”

“No,” Artemis said warily.

“His past,” Zoom said. “I mean, look at it! Superman and Martian Manhunter are the last of their kinds, Batman watched his parents die, even Green Arrow! Tragedy, Artemis! That’s what makes a great hero. And Wally’s life has been wonderful. Look at it! He’s got you,” he placed a hand on Jai, and Artemis jerked away, waking up Jai, although Irey remained asleep, “And now them. They’re speedsters, aren’t they?”

“We don’t know yet,” Artemis said, mouth dry. “They’re only kids.”

“They’ll be heroes, won’t he? Running by their father’s side, a whole future ahead of them. You and Wally and Jai and Irey… such a bright future.” Zoom’s smile sent the same waves of terror through her stomach that the Joker’s did. “If that’s taken away Artemis… he’ll _finally_ be the hero he needs to be.”

Artemis tried to run, even though she knew she couldn’t get far. Sure enough, Zoom slammed her against the wall—right next to the switch for the zeta-station. Irey woke up, and started crying, Jai joining her. “Hush,” Artemis whispered, stroking her daughter’s bright red locks. “Everything’s going to be okay.” Her elbow hit the switch as she moved.

“I’m sorry Artemis, I really am. But this needs to happen.”

Artemis threw out her foot, hitting Zoom in the groin Launching herself into the zeta-station she cried out. “Watchtower! Authorization, Artemis B-07!” She deliberately used her civilian ID to avoid Zoom’s suspicion.

She dematerialized as Zoom cried out in fury, launching himself at her.

“Artemis!” Wally was there, holding her. “What’s wrong?”

“Zoom,” Artemis whispered, clutching the twins between them. “Zoom was going to kill them, Wally.”

* * *

 

“Hey Flasher!” Captain Boomerang called as he threw another one of his favorite weapons at the red blur that was his nemesis.

“What is it Digger?” Wally replied, dodging the projectile.

“Is it true then? About Zoom goin’ after your girl?”

The amusement left Wally’s voice. “Yes. It’s true.”

Boomerang swore. “Bastard. Not even Rouges go after kids or civilians.”

“Apparently Zoom doesn’t follow your rules,” the Flash said, standing still for once as he spoke with his enemy.

“Damned right he doesn’t,” Boomerang said. “He’s not one of us.”

There was a long pause before the Australian continued. “Is it true that your kids are speedsters?”

“Irey is!” Wally said, beaming. “Nearly gave Artemis a heart attack when she clocked thirty miles per hour toddling across the kitchen.”

“Oh bloody hell, there’s going to be two of you!” Digger said.

“Not for a few years still,” Wally laughed.


	19. WALLY WEST #13 - Fragment

_Year 13—Wally_

**Location: Central City**

**Date: May 16 2018**

**Time: 16:01 CST**

The doorbell rang, and Artemis made sure that she was armed before answering the door. It never hurt to be prepared. “Hello?”

A familiar man greeted her at the door. “Hello Artemis.”

“Hello James,” Artemis greeted, smiling at him. “How’re you?”

The man looked around. “Is Wally in?”

“No,” she said. “He’s at the company today. Do you want me to give him a message?”

“Yes, actually,” the man said, eyes still twinkling brightly, although his hair was streaked with grey now.

“Come on in then,” she said, stepping aside.

Irey dashed forward to investigate their visitor, Jai toddling into the room behind her. “Mama, who this?”

“This is Mr. Jesse, Irey,” Artemis told him. “Say hello.”

“Heyyo!” The young speedster said, waving jauntily, just like Wally had taught her.

“Heyyo!” Jai mimicked, flashing a grin just like Wally’s at the Rogue.

The former circus-man laughed. “Those two are going to give the Rogues a lot of trouble when they’re older,” the man predicted, smiling.

“We’re hoping,” Artemis said, laughing. “Do you want tea James?” She gestured to the kettle.

“No thanks Artemis,” James said, shaking his head. “I’m just here to give you this,” he pulled out a bright blue envelope, which he handed to Artemis. “Don’t worry, it won’t explode.”

“That would be _far_ to cliché for you,” Artemis informed him, smiling, although the thought _had_ crossed her mind briefly.

“You see!” the Trickster shouted to the heavens, raising his hands into the air, “Someone who understands me!”

Artemis laughed. “What’s it for?”

“It’s an invite,” the man said, adjusting his eyesore of a tie. “For my retirement party.”

“You’re retiring?” Artemis said, shocked.

The Trickster nodded. “Reforming, actually.”

Artemis was surprised. “A bit cliché, isn’t it?” She raised an eyebrow.

Trickster grinned. “Can you keep a secret Artemis?”

Artemis nodded, intrigued.

“You know, every few years, a villain decides to reform. They get “cured” or whatever, experience a “revelation” or “epiphany” or whatever you want to call it. So they reform, and live as a model citizen for a while. _But_ ,” James said, raising a finger, “Each and _every_ time, people get suspicious of that reformed crook. They start investigating, and _bada-bing, bada-boom!_ The guy’s still a criminal at heart, and he’s arrested. Everyone was right. A criminal can’t reform. Ever. The status quo _must_ remain intact.”

Realization dawned on Artemis. “And you’re going to break that rule?”

“My greatest trick yet,” James declared. “I’m going to break the status quo, and become a hero. A wacky, crazy awesome C-List hero, but a hero!”

Artemis grinned from ear to ear. “That _will_ be a great trick.”

“The very best,” the man confirmed, beaming. “Just don’t tell Wally.”

Artemis pecked the man on the cheek. “I won’t James. I promise.”

\--

**Location: Central City**

**Date: January 4 2022**

**Time: 14:02 CST**

“Wally?” Chyre stuck his head into the lab, a frown on his face. “Some kid’s here to see you. Says he’s your cousin or somethin’.”

“Cousin?” Wally repeated, confused.

“That’s what he says,” Chyre said with a shrug.

“Um...” Wally ran a hand through his hair, purplexed. “Let him in, I guess.”

“You sure?” Chyre said, frowning. “I mean, ever since Zoloman...”

“It’ll be fine,” Wally said, faking a grin. “Seriously man.”

Chyre squinted at him, before backing out. A few seconds later, a geeky looking kid with brownish-red hair walked in, wearing a red Flash hoodie and faded jeans. He looked vaguely familiar, although Wally couldn’t think why.

“Can I help you?”  Wally asked, eying the boy warily.

The boy’s face lit up in a grin and Wally realized that the kid looked like Uncle Barry. With auburn hair. But Uncle Barry nonetheless. “Hey Mister West!” He grabbed Wally’s hand and pumped it up and down. “I’m Bart, Bart Allen! I’m a huge fan!”

“A fan?” Wally repeated, a bit overwhelmed.

“Of the Flash,” Bart said, grinning.

 _Oh shit oh shit oh shitshitshit_. “The... Flash.” Wally blinked slowly.

“Yes sir!”

Wally let out a small, bitter laugh. “The Flash is dead, kid.”

“No you’re not, Mister West,” Bart said, good humor gone. “You’re right here.”

“I’m not the Flash, kid.” Wally said, turning away. “Look kid--”

“Bart,” he said, glaring. “Not kid. And you _are_ the Flash. I’ve known that since I was eight.”

 _Definitely Barry’s family_ , Wally thought wryly. “Not any more,” he said, grabbing his coffee mug, embossed with the Batman symbol (a gag-gift from Dick two Christmas’s ago.) “Not since Zoom.” He decided to worry about how the kid figured out his secret identity later.

“But you’re still Wally West!” Bart protested. “Fastest man alive! The hero of the Twin Cities, founding member of the Justice League--”

“Former,” Wally said, staring into the mug. He’d gotten far too good at brooding. “It’s hard to do that without the speed.”

“Without...” Bart looked thunderstruck and couldn't finish.

“Zoom,” Wally said.

“Can’t you get it back?” Bart asked, eyes wide.

“Impossible,” Wally said. “He deactivated my meta-gene.”

“How’d you activate it the first time?” Bart sounded desperate.

“An experiment,” Wally said listlessly.

There was a gleam in Bart’s eye. “Can’t you recreate it?”

Wally ran a hand through his hair. “It’s not that simple.”

“Why not?” Bart demanded.

“I don’t have the formula any more,” Wally said, shrugging. “The first time I did it, I nearly got myself killed. Took out the garage as well.”

“Don’t you remember _anything_?” Bart begged, his eyes large. “Can’t Lady Martian or someone...”

Wally froze.

“Kid,” he said, starting to smile for what felt like the first time in a lifetime. “You are a _genius._ ”

\--

 

**Location: Central City**

**Date: January 4 2022**

**Time: 22:02 CST**

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner! I mean, Hello Megan, it seems so obvious now that I think about it,” M’gann was saying, bustling around the kitchen. Artemis leaned on the counter, interested.

“Megs, don’t worry,” Wally laughed, smiling. “I didn’t think of it either.”

“None of us did,” Artemis sighed. “We’re all idiots.”

“Okay Wally,” M’gann sat down across from him, pressing her fingers against his temples. “You ready?”

“Always, Green Cheeks,” Wally flashed a wide grin. “Let’s figure out how to make me tick again.”

M’gann’s eyes glowed red. Images flashed through Wally’s mind. A battered garage with a chemistry set up and running. A long table. An open notebook, designed for high grade chemicals and equipment, not internet purchases and equipment that was held together with duct tape and the power of belief.

A smile appeared on Wally’s face as he stared down at the notebook, taking note of everything. Every technique, every ingredient, every method. “Megs?” The image of the notebook started to glow, seemingly searing itself onto the inside of his eyelids.

He opened his eyes, grinning. “I can do it!” He pulled Artemis into a deep kiss. “I can recreate it!”

Artemis laughed.

\--

**Location: Central City**

**Date: January 6 2022**

**Time: 11:23 CST**

“You sure about this?” Wally asked, looking at Bart. “First time I did this, I nearly got killed.”

“I’m sure,” Bart grinned. “Speedy to your Green Arrow, reporting for duty!”

Wally snorted. “Lian’s going to _love_ you, Kid.”

“Lian?”

“My niece. Speedy.”

“Wait a minute, if Lian’s Speedy... Artemis is...?”

“Maybe,” Wally laughed at the look on Bart’s face. “Now let’s get this show on the road!”

Wally poured the two mixtures together.

The explosion was expected, yet still surprising The liquid sloshed over both of them, burning  nerve endings,sinking into their skin and blurring out the world around them.

Distantly, Wally heard Bart scream.

Then, as suddenly as it began, the pain stopped. The light shifted. Wally raised his head, feeling the familiar buzz in his veins. He’d missed it so much.

He was across the room in an instant, helping Bart up. “You okay kid?”

“Not kid,” Bart muttered.

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being a kid,” Wally said, supporting his first-cousin-once-removed-from-an-alternate-dimension. “Besides, if you’re going to be my partner...”

“Irey’s got dibs on Kid Flash,” Bart said.

“What’s it going to be then?” Wally asked, eyebrow raised.

“I’m thinking... _Impulse_.”


	20. ARTEMIS CROCK #14 - Fragment

_ Year 14—Artemis _

“Roy,” Jade said, sitting next to her fiancé. “We need to talk.”

He looked up, alarmed. “Jade? What is it? What’s wrong?”

She licked her lips. “It’s time you knew about me.”

“I  _ do _ know you,” Roy protested, raising a hand to trace her face. “I’ve known you for years.”

Jade leaned against his hand. “Not everything,” she whispered.

“What don’t I know?” He said, clearly not believing her. She held out her mask to him. “What’s this?”

“I’m Cheshire,” Jade whispered. “Or at least I was.”

“Who’s Cheshire?”

“A mercenary for the League of Shadows.” She spotted alarm and recognition on his face. “Yes Roy, those Shadows.”

“Was?” Roy pounced on, clearly trying to ignore how his world was crashing around his ears. “Past tense?”

Jade nodded. “I left them a few years ago now.”

“Why?”

“For you and Lian,” Jade said. “I want to be with you, and raise our daughter.”

“Then why tell me now?” Roy demanded, still unsure how to react.

“Because they found me. And they will want to kill me.” 

Roy closed his eyes tightly. “Tell me the rest then. I need to know.”

Jade told him everything. About her father, Sportsmaster, and the training she’d undergone as a child. About her mother, Huntress, and about the League of Shadows and Ra’s al Ghul and her job. She spoke about late night battles and killings, and how she’d fallen in love with him, despite orders. About how she’d only been able to avoid having Lian killed by promising to train her too one day, but defied  _ those _ orders too.

“Thank you for trusting me Jade,” Roy said softly once she was done.

“I just wish I’d done it sooner,” she admitted, looking away.

\--

“You called?” Green Arrow said, startling Roy from behind.

“Do you  _ have _ to do that?” he demanded, glaring at the blond woman.

“Comes with the job,” she said brusquely, lowering the green hood. “So what’s this about then? It’s unusual for someone  _ not _ from the police to turn on the signal.”

“The thing’s totally a Bat-signal knockoff anyway,” Roy grumbled. “But yes, you’re right.”

“We need your help,” Jade said softly. Green Arrow turned to her, appraising her.

“Why?” she said, crossing her arms.

“The League of Shadows is after us,” Roy said. “Us and Lian.”

_ That _ caught the archer’s attention. “Why?”

“Because I left them,” Jade said flatly.

The lenses of Green Arrow’s mask narrowed. “You did?”

“You already knew,” Roy said, incredulous.

“I suspected,” the blond admitted. “It seemed plausible. But I didn’t look for confirmation.”

“Why?” Jade said.

“For your daughter’s sake,” Green Arrow said flatly.

“Will you help us? For Lian?” Roy said.

“Yes.” The blond tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Talk to Oliver’s personal assistant Artemis Crock. She has contacts to arrange for proper bodyguards. I’ll do my best to keep an eye on the situation myself, but I can’t do it full time.”

“Why does Artemis have bodyguard contacts?” Jade asked.

“She’s married to Wally West,” Green Arrow said flatly. “Lex Luthor has tried to kill her husband no less than three times.”

“Never heard  _ that _ ,” Roy said, surprised.

“Oh, nothing’s provable,” the blond said. “Yet.” With that, the archer faded into the background.

\--

“Ollie,” Artemis said, looking in. “I know you’re busy, but I’ve got Luthor on Line One, and he’s babbling threats again—or maybe a business deal, I forget—and you probably  _ should _ take the call…”

“I’ll call him back,” Ollie said absently, face screwed up in concentration. “I’m defending Europe from savage invaders.”

“Good luck, Grandpa!” Lian crowed, “Double sixes!”

Roy laughed, holding Jade’s hand. Newlywed bliss still hadn’t worn off for them, Artemis noted. Dinah passed Ollie the defenders’ dice. “Your move, sweetie.”

Ollie rolled the dice, and groaned loudly as he failed to beat his granddaughter’s army. “Artemis, before I forget, I need to talk to you. Roy, can you play for me?”

Roy laughed, disentangled his hand from Jade’s, and decided to attempt to break Dinah’s iron grip on Africa. 

“I’ve been meaning to talk with you about this for a little while now, Artemis,” Ollie said quietly, walking to the head of the conference table, where she was standing. “Roy told me about the bodyguards you arranged for.”

“Yes sir,” Artemis said, allowing her face to fall into her good employee expression. She didn’t use it very often nowadays, now that she knew Ollie better.

Ollie frowned, clearly noticing, “And I was thinking—”

Artemis’s head rotated, eyes widening as she heard sounds that she was very familiar with—combat and gunfire. “Ollie, get down!” she tackled him to the ground as the door burst open, and three armed men entered. Shadow agents.

Artemis reached up, hitting the switch on the underside of the table, which released smoke into the air. That should buy her some time. She dragged Ollie to a corner, where Dinah was already located, clutching Lian tightly.

Shots were being fired, and Artemis heard the sound of steel on steel—Jade had been armed after all. “I’m going to get Roy. You three _stay_ here.”

“Artemis, it’s too dangerous!” Ollie said. “You could get killed!”

“Sorry sir, it’s my job to keep you and your family safe.” She said, charging into the smoke, pulling on her cowl as soon as she was sure that Ollie couldn’t see her. Her collapsible bow sprung out, and she shed her business jacket and suit pants, revealing her Green Arrow outfit—Conner had really good ideas sometimes. She activated the heat sensors within her cowl, and focused on the five figures in the room.

A scream filled the air—Jade’s, and one of the figures fell to the ground, bleeding. “No!” Artemis cried out—or was it Roy, Dinah, Ollie, or Lian? Arrows flew through the air, pinning one gunman to the ground, knocking out another, and shocking another, but not before another round of shots were fired, and Roy’s voice rang through the room, crying out in pain.

Artemis turned on the fan, blowing away the smoke, uncaring that Artemis Crock had disappeared and Green Arrow appeared.

She ran to Jade first, tears starting to flow as she realized that the sister that had left her years ago was already gone.

“Daddy!” Lian yelled, running to her father. “Daddy!”

Artemis ran over, arriving at the same time as the niece who she would never be able to call by that title. She assessed the situation in less than a second. Three shots—one in the chest, one in the stomach, and another in his right arm. The bleeding was already heavy, soaking his suit and his daughter as she clung to him, sobbing.

Artemis knelt by her brother-in-law, cradling his head in her lap as Ollie and Dinah drew near.

“Artemis…” Roy whispered, eyes glassy, but still there. Artemis drew off her cowl easily, not listening to the surprised gasps of Ollie and Dinah.

“I’m here Roy,” she said softly.

“Jade…”

“Already dead, I’m sorry,” Artemis said, bowing her head as she wept. “I failed you. I’m so, so, sorry.”

“Not your fault,” Roy gasped.

Artemis couldn’t find the strength to argue. “Look after Lian?” Artemis nodded.

“Daddy,” Lian whispered, “Daddy don’t die! Please don’t die…”

“Sorry precious,” Roy whispered. “I love you.”

“Then don’t  _ die _ ,” Lian begged. “Please?”

Roy never responded. Lian clutched her father tightly as she sobbed. Artemis clutched her eyes tightly shut as she wept. She didn’t even open them when Dinah shoved her cowl back over her head as the police arrived.

\--

“Artemis.” This was the first time Ollie had spoken to her since Roy’s death. “I need to talk with you.” His voice was almost hollow, and Artemis swallowed a lump in her throat, thinking about how this man had just buried his son.

“Yes sir,” Artemis said, standing up and going with him into the second conference room. Ollie turned to her, sorrow clear. Artemis dropped her eyes.

There was a silence for a while, but Artemis forced herself to wait. “So,” Ollie finally said. “Green Arrow.”

“Yes sir.” Artemis set her mind to the task of counting the individual strands of the very fine carpet of the secondary conference room.

“Will you be staying with the company?” Ollie finally said. “I mean, I’d understand if you don’t…”

“I’d prefer to remain, Mr. Queen.” Artemis said. “If that’s acceptable with you, that is.”

“Why the hell wouldn’t it be?” Ollie demanded. “Just because you fire a bunch of fancy trick arrows in your spare time doesn’t change the fact that I trust you more than anyone else in the whole damned company!”Artemis looked up, surprised. “Dammit Artemis, I’ve known you since you left high school, you  _ and _ your husband!”

“I know that sir,” Artemis replied, trying to keep her voice controlled.

“And there you go again with the sir!” Ollie’s voice was growing steadily louder now. “Artemis, I don’t  _ care _ about you being a superhero!” Artemis felt grateful that she had soundproofed these rooms years ago. “I’ve known you for years, and it doesn’t change a damned thing! You’re practically my daughter!”

Artemis’s breath caught in her throat. “ _ What _ ?”

Ollie calmed down. “It’s what I wanted to talk to you about… before.”

“Before,” Artemis repeated.

“Yes. I know you’re an adult, and married, and have the twins and all that,” Ollie said, pulling an envelope out of his pocket and handing it to her. “But I thought I’d get these drawn up anyway.”

Artemis opened it, and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. “Adoption papers?” she whispered numbly.

“You’re a part of my family Artemis,” Ollie said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “And I thought that would be the best way to tell you that. If it’s okay with you?”

Artemis let tears run down her face again, and hugged Ollie tightly. “Thank you,” she whispered, safe in the embrace of her father.


	21. ARTEMIS CROCK #15 – Fragment

_Year 15—Artemis_

Artemis had formally adopted her adoptive niece, who had moved in with Wally, Bart and herself in their new, larger apartment.

There was no media attention to the event at all, and Lian was perfectly happy and content with her new life.

If only.

“Aunt Artemis,” the girl asked, wide-eyed. “Will you teach me how to shoot?”

Artemis nearly dropped her bow. “ _What_?”

“Will. You. Teach. Me. To. Shoot?”

Artemis stared at the nine year old. “No!”

“Why _not_? Jai and Irey are going to be a superhero! So’s Mari!”

“Mari and Irey both have _superpowers_ ,” Artemis said, trying to be patient.

“But you and Jai and Uncle Dick and Aunty Helena and Uncle Vic don’t!” The black haired girl said, reminding Artemis painfully of Jade.

“And we’ve all been training for _years_ ,” Artemis said patiently. “Dick and I both started when we were nine, and that’s not counting the years of acrobatic training he had beforehand…”

“And _I’m_ nine,” The girl said, crossing her arms. “You told me Grandpa Ollie didn’t start ‘till he got trapped on that desert island.”

Artemis groaned. “I should never have told you that story.”

The girl stuck her tongue at her aunt. “Come on! I can be your Speedy! And then Red Arrow! Like my dad!”

Artemis looked at the girl, whose eyes—so like Roy’s—shone up at her, and Artemis knew she couldn’t deny the girl this. This was a way to get closer to her father, even if it was an alternate version of him.

Not to mention, judging from her bloodlines, she was going to be an automatic badass.

“Fine,” she said. “I’ll teach you.”

So they took Artemis’s costume design, but changed the cowl to match Artemis’s new one, switched the color scheme, and put the Speedy logo on it.

And the world’s first sidekick stepped into the bright light of Star City, and the media circus began.


	22. CONNER KENT #16 -Fragment

Conner raised a fist, slamming it into Doomsday’s unyielding skin. Again. And again. And again. 

_ Conner, hold on!  _ M’gann’s voice screamed  in his mind.  _ We’re on our way, just hold on!  _

_ I love you M’gann, _ Conner said. 

_ Conner!  _

Doomsday struck back, sending Conner through a nearby wall. Screams sounded in the distance--civilians. Conner got to his feet, blinking the blood out of his eyes. 

“You wanna play?” He asked softly, looking at Doomsday’s emotionless red eyes. “Let’s finish this game.”

He charged, taking to the air in order to gain momentum. He slammed into Doomsday bodily.


	23. DICK GRAYSON #18 – Fragment

_ Year 18—Dick _

Batman stared at the little boy—he couldn’t be any older than thirteen. The boy glared back up at him, clutching the wheel of the Batmobile in one hand.

“What’s your name?” he demanded, narrowing his eyes.

“Jason,” the boy declared, sticking out his chin proudly. “Jason Todd.”

“Well Jason,” Batman said, amused despite himself. “Can you tell me why you’re taking the wheels off my car?”

The boy shrugged. “Thought I could sell ‘em.”

He raised an eyebrow the boy couldn’t see. “And so you steal from Batman. You didn’t think this all the way through, did you?”

The boy shrugged again. “Needed cash. Food don’t buy itself.”

Dick wanted to laugh, but he was wearing the cowl, so he couldn’t. “No, it doesn’t.” He eyed the boy.

He was a scrawny kid, but probably pretty strong from the looks of it. The boy had a pair of large green eyes that were far too old for a boy that young, and a hair of messy, wild black hair. An orphan, Dick decided. Or a runaway. His heart protested at the sight of this boy, but rationalism won over. He couldn’t take in every street kid in Gotham... “Do you have parents?” he said, intentionally making it sound like he already knew the answer to be a no.

The boy shook his head. “Mom died last year. The old man said to clear out after that.”

Dick’s heart nearly stopped at the matter-of-fact the way the boy said it. He forced himself to remain calm. “Did he now?”

“Yep,” Jason said. “He didn’t want to have to look after me.” The boy grinned a strange smile, and Dick couldn’t breathe. He had smiled that smile before—it Robin’s smile.

“Well Jason,” he said calmly. “I think you should put that tire back… and then I think I know a place where you can get some food.”

\--

“This place is so _cool_!” Jason said, staring around the cave wide-eyed.

“I think so too,” Dick laughed, removing his cowl. “Richard Grayson. A pleasure to meet you Jason.”

The boy stared up at him, wide-eyed. “Why ya tellin’ me that?”

“Have you heard of Speedy?” Dick said, sitting down in front of his computer, but made sure he faced Jason.

“Yeah,” the boy said, still confused. “That chick in red who follows Green Arrow around.”

Dick nodded at that description. “I’ve been thinking about taking an apprentice Jason, for a while now. Someone to help me in my mission—it’s been harder since Green Arrow left for Star City.”

The boy looked up, shocked. “And you want _me_ to help you?”

He nodded. “I’ll train you, of course. It won’t be right away, but I think you’ve got potential. What do you say?”

A smile split the face of Jason Todd. “Sounds _awesome_!”

It only took a few alterations to get Dick’s old suit to fit Jason. Mari and Kory were thrilled at the new addition to the family, and Mari demanded to get to go into the field at the same time as her new brother, even though she was two years younger. Dick gave in, of course, much to Jason’s amusement.

\--

Nightfire and Robin were a huge hit, although some questions about child endangerment were raised, much to Dick and the rest of the League’s amusement.

“If only they knew,” M’gann said, smiling fondly.

“We’ve kept them back a long time,” Artemis agreed. “And now that we’ve got three, are we forming a team, or are we going to wait until the twins are ready?”

“I think Clark might develop his powers first,” Dick said, leaning forward. “Although I guess it depends on when you and Wally think Jai and Irey are ready.”

“Not until they’re at least nine,” Artemis said. “They’re _not_ breaking your record.”

“And Clark will have powers before then,” Conner said, looking as unsure as he always did when talking about the other Kryptonian. “He’ll start developing them when he turns fifteen.”

“Lovely,” Wally said. “We’ve got a year then.”


	24. CONNER KENT #20 - Fragment

_ Year 20—Conner _

Clark stared at the device in his hands. “I’m an alien…” he whispered. “But isn’t Superman supposed to be the last Kryptonian?”

A knock sounded on the door, surprising them. Clark stuffed the symbol under the couch pillow before getting up to answer the door. “Who could that be at this hour?” Martha wondered.

Clark’s jaw nearly hit the ground as he stared at the man in front of him. “Superman?”

An awkward smile graced the great hero’s features. “Hello… Clark, was it?” It was only then that he noticed Green Arrow standing behind him, an amusedly exasperated look on her face.

“Sorry about him,” she said, sticking out her hand. “I’m Green Arrow. We’re here to talk to you Clark. And your parents, if that’s acceptable,” she nodded to Martha and John, who had come to stand behind their son.

“Sure thing,” Martha said, managing not to look flabbergasted at the fact that two superheroes were at her front door. “Would you come in please?”

“Thank you,” Superman said, still smiling awkwardly.

Martha served them all coffee and apple pie, which no one touched. Green Arrow finally sighed. “Clark, you’ve been discovering your powers, right?”

Clark nodded mutely, eyes wide. “How did you know that?”

Green Arrow laughed. “We’ve known about you for a long time, Clark. Hard to miss a meteorite hitting Kansas, even when the Watchtower was that new.”

The Kents shared looks. “You knew that Clark was an alien?” Martha finally said.

Green Arrow nodded. “Batman even helped you with the paperwork.” Her gaze softened as she looked at Clark. “We wanted you to be able to live a normal life until your powers developed. Superman was never able to, but we thought that you deserved it.”

“But if Clark was launched from Krypton by his parents,” John said, “How did Superman arrive here?”

The two heroes nodded. “Excellent question,” Green Arrow admitted, leaning back and taking a sip of her coffee. “Okay, we’re going to tell you a story. One that only the Justice League knows, and not even all of them at that.”

“It all started on another Earth,” Superman began, “When three boys named Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash decided to investigate a small fire in a building owned by a genetics lab called Cadmus…”

* * *

“I like it,” Artemis said, grinning back as she examined Clark in blue spandex and a cape, sewn carefully by Martha Kent. 

Clark smiled sheepishly, looking for all the world like a miniature version of Conner.. “How do I look?”

“Like Superman’s cousin who was frozen in time and launched at Earth in a slower space-ship,” Artemis said, quoting the back-story they were going with. “It’s what we’re going with if we find Krypto as well.”

“Krypto?”

“Superdog.”

“There’s a super _dog_?”


	25. EPILOGUE - Fragment

M’gann, of course, was the first to move. “Uncle J’ohnn!” she cried joyfully, launching herself through the air at her uncle, her form melting away to reveal her teenaged self as she wrapped her arms around him.

“Uncle Barry!” Wally’s mask was torn off, and the two speedsters were embracing before anyone could move.

“Bruce!” Batman removed his cowl, revealing Dick Grayson. The boy walked forward, more unsure of himself than his two comrades, but pulled his father into a hug nevertheless.

Artemis walked up to Ollie, and smiled. “Ollie…” she started to say, but found herself trapped in a hug by Ollie and Dinah.

“We were worried, kiddo,” Ollie said, smiling as he held his grown protégé tightly.

Kaldur walked up to his king, and then kneeled. “My king,” he said softly, but that was all he had time to say before Aquaman pulled the man into a tight hug.

And despite the joy of reunion, all of the mentors were internally mourning all of the years that their children had grown, and they had not been there.

“Jason!” Dick called, grinning from ear to ear as he pulled away from his father. “Come here! It’s time you met your grandfather!”

Robin walked forward, eying the two Batmen, both cowl-less now, with caution. Dick threw his arm around him, and pulled of the boy’s mask with his other hand.

“You said we’re not supposed to remove our masks within the Watchtower,” Jason protested.

“That was  _ before _ your grandfather arrived,” Dick said with a grin. The boy frowned, but accepted the term, looking up at Bruce with a pair of startling green eyes.

“Hello Jason,” Batman said, looking from Dick to Jason, trying to figure out if the boy was Dick’s by blood, or by adoption, like Dick was his.

The boy looked at him, and Bruce detected fear in those eyes, although his body language said otherwise. “Hi,” the boy said, bitterness still lacing his voice.

Dick hugged his son closer, grinning. “Kory! Mari! Get over here!”

The tall woman with long, flowing red hair walked over, followed by the girl Nightstar.

Dick grabbed Kori’s hand, and looked up at Bruce with a smile. “Bruce, this is Kory. My wife. And our daughter, Mari.”

Dick was married. And had at least one child. And adopted another, Bruce was sure of that now. Bruce felt an ache somewhere in his chest. He had missed so many years of his son’s life.

What else had he missed?

“I’m going to talk to Lian,” Jason said, throwing a look in Speedy’s direction.

Dick followed the boy’s line of sight, and nodded. “You go do that.”

The boy took off, walking up to the girl, and wrapping his arm around her in a brotherly gesture.

Dick watched Jason with sad eyes. “Don’t mind Jason. Ever since he learned about where we came from, he’s worried that we’re just going to take off. It’s not like his birth father installed trust instincts in him either,” his voice was as bitter as Jason’s. “He didn’t deserve a kid like him.”

Kory placed a hand on Dick’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about that. It is in the past now.”

Dick nodded sadly, and Bruce realized with a start just how much everything would change now. Dick had a family and a responsibility here. He couldn’t just come back to their dimension, and continue living the life that he had had with Bruce there. He had a life here. A good one, from the looks of it.

Bruce closed his eyes, wishing away the pain of losing his son again.

* * *

 

“Today’s the day,” Jason said, grinning broadly. 

“You excited?” Clark asked, fiddling with his glasses. 

“Duh!” Jason said, throwing an arm over Tim’s shoulders, and his other arm around Mari’s waist. “We’re making a  _ Team _ !” 

“About time, too!” Lian declared, striding in with the twins and Bart trailing her. “Is Garth here yet?”

“Not yet,” Lois said, smiling as she hugged the red-head. “Kaldur said he’d been here though.”

“And Mom said she was bringing someone else too!” Irey said, beaming. 

“Ooh, is is Spoiler?” Lois asked, eyes sparkling. She turned to Tim. “Do we finally get to meet the famous girlfriend finally?” 

Tim flushed a rather impressive shade of red. “Not my girlfriend,” he muttered.

“Of course not Timmy,” Jason said insincerely, patting his shoulder. “Not Spoiler though, Lois. Black Bat’s not done with her training yet.”

“So a blonde with a criminal background from Gotham City is going to join the Team late?” Lian asked. “Sounds like we’re coming full circle here.”

“Not unless you get rid of the hat and rage-quit!” Jai said, beaming ear to ear up at his cousin.

“I  _ like  _ my hat,” Lian muttered, ignoring Bart and Irey’s snickers. 

Bart pulled out four Power Bars, giving two to Irey. “Then who’s our mysterious newbie?” He asked, shoving the whole bar in his mouth. 

“Mom didn’t say,” Jai said. “But she looked excited.”

Mari laughed. “Mom said that we’ll like them--whoever they are.”

Jason looked at his sister suspiciously. “Has Mom been giving you extra information?”

Mari stuck her tongue out. “Like Timmy didn’t already hack the computer.”

“Oracle blocked me,” Tim said, trying to stop the fighting between his two siblings while simultaneously escape Jason’s embrace. “Couldn't find anything.” 

“Tragedy!” Bart declared, throwing his arm over Tim as well, trapping Tim between Bart and Jason. “Why would she do such a thing?”

“Clark, help?” Tim pleaded, blue eyes wide.

Clark laughed, shaking his head. “Sorry Tim.” 

“Thanks Clark!” Jason called, starting to tousle Tim’s hair. 

Garth arrived, soaking wet, at that moment. “What did I miss?”

“Newbie is arriving,” Irey said. “Don’t know who.”

“Huh,” Garth said. “Hey Lois.”

“Hey Garth!” The civilian liaison said, smirking as Clark looked confused that she knew the Atlantean. 

Before the Kryptonian could start to question it, however, the zeta tube lit up. “Recognized. Green. Arrow. Zero. Six.” Tim was released, much to the Boy Wonder’s considerable relief. The Team turned, eager to see their newest team mate. “Wonder. Girl. B. One. Zero.”

“Team,” Artemis strode out in civilian wear, followed by a dark haired girl wearing a red and gold outfit. “This is Donna. Donna, this is the Team.”

Tim and Mari noticed that Jason had gone slightly slack jawed at the sight of the pretty Amazon. Identical evil grins spread across their faces. 

“Today,” Garth said, hooking an arm over Jason’s neck, pulling the taller Nightwing into a headlock. “Is a  _ very _ good day.” 


End file.
